A story of Team Minato
by FilipN1
Summary: Team Minato is sent on a mission to retrieve a stolen scroll containing the secrets of the Leaf villages clans and their Hiden Jutsu. They will have to travel deep into enemy territory to get it back. However, the deeper into the mission the team gets, the more secrets are revealed. Conspiracies begin to unravel and danger surrounds everyone.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Running his finger along the river of a giant map in front of him, The Third Hokage explained the mission's details.

"This is the route you will take, it will be the safest and efficient way to get to the marked position." He took his finger away from the map and leaned all his fingers from one hand on the fingers of the other.

"I take it that you understand the objective of your mission?" questioned the Hokage. Minato nodded his head to the given question.

"Yes, sir. We are to head to the marked position in order for us to gather information on the location of the stolen scroll." Minato replied.

"Good." The Hokage said. He then addressed the younger members of the meeting and directed his next words to two of the students in particular.

"I expect all of you to work together on this mission, especially you two, Kakashi, Obito. You will put aside your differences for this mission, understood. Kakashi and Obito nodded.

"That scroll contains information on the Hiden Justu of our village. Information on the Hyuga, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka even the Uchiha clan, all of those clan's secrets are contained in that scroll. It is paramount that you find the scroll, bring it back, and discover how the scroll was taken. Now go." The Hokage finished.

"Understood"

Minato and his three students met in front of the Leaf village's front gate together shortly after the briefing.

"Listen up everybody, stay together and keep up, we head straight to our designated destination, we have two planned rest stops and no more," Minato explained.  
"Alright, let's move out."

It took team Minato nearly a whole day to finally reach the river which was on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, bordering the Land of Grass.

"Well, the good news is we're heading the right way, as long as we stick to traveling along this river we should be fine. The bad news is our leads end here. From now on, we will have to gather information for ourselves. Leaf ANBU tracked the thieves in this direction but eventually, the tracks went dead." Minato said.

"So it's possible that both the scroll and the thieves are hanging around in this forest. Seems kinda dumb to hang around here when they could have returned back to their hideout." Said Obito.

Kakashi interjected, "Actually, it's quite the opposite of dumb if the enemy knew they were being followed it would have been dumb to return to their hideout. They would have only risked returning if they knew that our ANBU had lost track of them."

"Our ANBU did lose track of them."

"Yes, but they may have anticipated that more squads would be sent after them. As a precaution, it's likely that the thieves have moved to another secure location."

"Well done, Kakashi, that is a good analysis and I believe it to be true as well." Obito turned his head, rolled his eyes and mimicked _Well done, Kakashi,_ with a face of mockery. Rin let out a secret giggle.

"Alright team, for now, we'll have another short rest, and continue in a couple of hours."

* * *

An eagle flew through the sky, the wind ruffling its feathers. The eagle swooped down closer to the dense canopy of the forest. It then changed its path and turned, flying towards a large open area filled with smaller trees and large boulders. The eagle hovered above the area, its yellow eyes scanning for any prey. Eventually, the eagle circled back over the canopy and then dived straight towards the ground. The eagle busted through twigs and leaves like nothing more than nuisances, until it spread its wings and steadied itself to perch on the arm of a stone ninja. The eagle wore a tiny red scarf with the Stone villages symbol sowed on its front with brown string.

"Nice work, girl." The eagle disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Reconnaissance is done. There's no one following us." Said a young man.

"Not yet anyway. Don't let that make you rest easy, Ametsuchi." Said a stone kunoichi sitting down, pouring steaming hot soup into a bowl and offering it to her partner. Ametsuchi took the bowel at sat next to the kunoichi.

"Thanks, Sayatsuchi. Where's the new guy?"

"Hamatsuchi!? Come, get your dinner!" Sayatsuchi called out. Another stone ninja with short dark hair wearing an even darker smile took a bowl of soup and sat down silently.

"That guy gives me the chills." Said Ametsuchi. Sayatsuchi ignored him. "You think the leaf sent more men after us?"

"It's obvious that they would. We have their scroll full of sensitive information, even if their ANBU failed the Leaf won't give up that easily."

"You think they can catch up?"

"We're not the only group of stone ninja out here, there are several more groups located further into the Land of Grass, the scroll is being passed onto each group like a baton race. That way, no one group will have hold of the scroll and it also makes moving the scroll back to the village easier and more contained. I doubt they have a shinobi fast enough to catch up to us now. Our group should be getting the scroll tomorrow morning. We will leave immediately to the next group."

"You said the Leaf don't have a shinobi whose fast enough. What if they send the Yellow Flash?"

"Hmph, if he comes we will take care of it." Sayatsuchi gestured to a whip that was wrapped around her waist like a belt.

"What about you Hamatsuchi?"

Hamatsuchi stayed silent but his grin widened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Team Minato entered a small clearing next to the river trying to gather any clues they could about the location of the scroll. Minato and Rin wondered off to look for left behind tracks if any, Kakashi searched around by himself, Obito stood by the river, watching the water rush past him. From the corner of his eye, he saw a small object floating in the river, making its way towards him. Obito wondered what It was, but decided it wasn't important enough to warrant another thought. Until, a mild breeze swept past his back and as he turned to his side, Kakashi jumped out onto the river, landing and standing on the water's surface. Kakashi picked up the floating object.

"Minato Sensei!" Kakashi called out.

"Did you find anything, Kakashi?" Minato asked.

"This."

"Hey! I found that first." Protested Obito.

Kakashi tossed the item towards Minato. Minato caught it, immediately, his face darkened.

"An ANBU mask? It's got blood on it."

"Yeah," Kakashi jumped off the water and landed next to his sensei, "It reeks with the stench of blood. That's how I knew something was wrong."

Obito crossed his arms and scoffed.

"This doesn't look good but it is our first and only lead. Kakashi can you follow the scent?" Asked Minato.

"No, but…" Kakashi bit his thumb to draw out a few drops of blood. He quickly formed some hands signs, slammed his palm to the ground and created a Jutsu circle which called forth a puff of smoke that when cleared summoned a small brown pug. "He can."

The pug immediately winced when it was summoned, "Pakkun, think you can follow that scent?"

The pug spoke, "Kakashi, how many times are you gonna summon me just to smell blood? Would it kill you to summon me to track some flowers?"

"Pakkun!?"

"Sorry, yeah, I can track the scent." Pakkun sniffed the mask once more, then pointed his nose to the ground and began sniffing some more before raising his nose to the air. "Follow me." As the four-ninja followed Pakkun to trace the scent of blood, he spoke again. "Hold up!" all of Team Minato stopped on the log of a tree. "I smell smoke coming from all the trees around us, probably paper bombs. It's too risky to try to pass without setting them off."

"Then we won't set them off," Minato stepped forward. He pointed to a large branch in the distance that was well away from the trees loaded with paper bombs. "Is that branch safe to step on, Pakkun?"

Pakkun sniffed the air, "It is."

Minato pulled out his unique tri-point kunai from his pouch and threw it at the log. The kunai whistled through the air, undisturbed, until it found its mark, stabbing into the tree log.

"Everyone grab hold of me." All three students and Pakkun did as they were told. Before any of them knew it, the scene in front of them changed instantly, the alignment of trees and branches were different from a moment ago. All was silent. "At least we didn't set off any of the bombs. Now, for whatever we encounter, we may have the element of surprise. Let's keep going." The ninjas took off once more.

"Were here!" Pakkun called out. True enough the group found a clearing in the forest and landed in another small and bare area next to the river. Only, this time, there was a body whose head and torso was half drowned in the river's water.

"Thanks, Pakkun, you can leave us now." The pug didn't wait and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "We should get the body out of the water." Kakashi took a step forward then stopped to gaze around, surveying the area with intense concentration.

"What are you waiting for Kakashi? An invitation?" Obito teased Kakashi for his inactivity and ran towards the corpse.

"Be careful, Obito!" Kakashi called out.

"Are you kidding me Kakashi? I'm an Uchiha I'll be fine. I don't need you to lecture me." When Obito got to the corpse he knelt down and instantly saw the ANBU's tattoo marking the man's shoulder.  
"You're definitely a Leaf ANBU. I guess that mask belonged to you. What happened to you I wonder?" As Obito gripped the ANBU's armour to drag him back onto the ground, he was hit with a sudden and strong whiff of smoke.  
"What the hell." Obito only just saw the numerous paper bombs stuck to the corpse's body, as they released strands of smoke into the air.  
"OH SHI…" Before Obito could get his scream out, he felt something tightly wrap around his stomach. Next thing he knew, his butt slammed into the ground and he was watching the corpse explode from a distance. Minato stood beside him.

"You alright Obito?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, I guess." In truth, Obito was dazed and confused. "You sure are fast, sensei."

"Obito you idiot, I told you to be careful."

"Hey, shut up Kakashi."

"Quit it, the both of you," Minato ordered. A whistling sound that was getting increasingly louder shocked Kakashi back to his senses. He turned quick enough to see three shuriken flying towards him. Instinctively, Kakashi drew his white light sabre and parried the shuriken making them plunge into the dirt. He then felt something grip his leg tightly and as he looked down he saw that a human hand had gripped his left foot from underground. Kakashi threw his sword spinning straight up into the air. The weight from under Kakashi's feet shifted quickly and threw Kakashi to the floor. He landed on his hands and turned his head to see a stone ninja standing behind him carrying a kunai. The stone ninja started forward to go in for the kill. Before he could, Kakashi's sword rained down, blade first right on top of the enemy's head. The ninja quickly backed off and watched as the sword stabbed itself into the ground.  
Kakashi took his chance.  
He spun around and grabbed the sword's handle like one would hold a kunai, swung it at the enemy and sliced his throat open.  
The stone ninja dropped his kunai, put his hands to his bloodied throat, fell backward and died.

"You little punk!" Two more stone ninja had burst out of nearby bushes, one of them was running straight at Kakashi.

Minato called out to his team, "Take one of them alive. We can use them for information. Rin, you stay back." One of the stone ninjas engaged Kakashi with a kunai. Obito charged at the second stone ninja who stood further back. Obito went to punch him but the man blocked his punch and tried to dish out his own punch. Obito ducked but so too did his enemy who now tried to sweep Obito off his feet. Obito flipped backward to get some distance, he pulled out a kunai and charged at his opponent. The stone ninja just stood there and allowed the kunai to plunge into his stomach.  
Obito grinned, but so did his enemy.  
The stone ninjas body melted into mud around Obito's arm. He pulled his arm out of the clump of mud and turned to Kakashi, to see his enemy making his way towards him.

"Kakashi, look out." Kakashi was shocked when his opponent suddenly backed off, only to see a second ninja bolting towards him, his hands made the snake sign.

" **Earth Style: Rock Fist**." The stone ninja's hand became covered with tightly compacted, heavy rock. The ninja drew his hand back to deliver what would be a powerful punch. As he did he saw something shine in the corner of his eye.  
It looked like a kunai.  
As the stone ninja let his fist fly towards the silver-haired boy, a bright burst of yellow invaded his vision and his rock fist encounter a glowing ball of blue. The rock on his arm instantly blew apart. Even worse, was that it didn't stop at his rock fist, but continued to impact his actual fist.  
The stone ninja's arm twisted and contorted into a ball of torn meat and shredded bone. His voice raged with a piercing shriek as he dropped to the ground.  
The last remaining stone ninja tried to stab Minato, but he easily grabbed the man's hand and ripped the kunai from his grip. The enemy stumbled around in a circle but quickly steadied himself, preparing to face the blonde shinobi. To his astonishment, the blonde had vanished and before he could contemplate his next move, he felt something cold press against his throat. His breathing gurgled and bubbled and his vision went black. The stone ninja fell forward, dead.

"Everyone alright?" Minato asked. Kakashi walked right over to Obito and grabbed him by the shirt.

"What is wrong with you?" questioned Kakashi.

"What are you talking about?"

"I could have been killed because of your mistake, you were just lucky that Minato sensei saved me."

"Hey, back off, it wasn't my fault that he got away from me."

"Yes, it was, if you had used your Sharingan in that fight you would have seen through his trick."

"Don't tell me how to fight!"

"That's enough, break it up you two." Minato grabbed his two students by the shoulders and pushed them both back away from each other.  
"Lord Hokage told the two of you to work together on this mission and now so am I. This mission requires teamwork, understand."

"Yes sensei," Kakashi said.

"Yes sensei," Obito said. A scream came out of the stone ninja whose arm had become twisted because of Minato's Rasengan. Minato walked over to him.

"Kakashi, help me get him up." Minato leaned into the ninja's face, "Don't try anything." Minato and Kakashi picked the man up. His damaged hand swayed in the wind. Just barely hanging on with skin and bone. "Obito, you're up. Let's see what you can get out of him." Obito grabbed the ninja's head and made sure they were both making eye contact.

The stone ninja continued to scream.

"Look at me!" Obito yelled.

The ninja looked into Obito's eyes. Obito activated his Sharingan, both the stone ninja's eyes and the body slumped. He stopped screaming, in fact, he made no sound whatsoever. Minato tapped Obito on the shoulder and gave him a nod of approval. Obito stepped aside.

"Where's the scroll?" Minato questioned.

"I don't know."

"Who has the scroll?"

"I don't know."

"Where are your men taking the scroll."

"Where're not taking the scroll anywhere, we don't have it anymore."

"What do you mean you don't have the scroll anymore, who did you give it too."

"One of the other groups. Once we are given the scroll, we are ordered to rendezvous with another group closer to the border, from then on we aren't told where the scroll is being taken next."

Minato faced his team. "The stone ninja must have multiple groups out here. Each group passes the scroll on to the next one, similar to a baton race. Once that's done the groups are probably told to stay back and fight off anyone who might be after the scroll, like us. I'll give them credit, it is efficient. On top of that, once a group passes on the scroll to the next, they aren't given any info on the scroll, that way the ninja can't reveal anything if they so happen to be trapped under Genjutsu." Minato turned back to his interrogatee, "Where was the last position of the group that you handed the scroll too."

"Two hundred kilometers, north-south of here, next to the Rhino Rock."

"Rhino Rock. That's where we are headed next." Minato didn't wait for the Sharingan's Genjutsu to wear off, he quickly dispatched of his victim by snapping his neck. A mercy, the stone ninja wouldn't have felt any pain.

"Rhino Rock?" Obito asked.

"It's a massive rock in the shape of a rhino's horn. Even though it's located in the Land of Grass, the Hidden Stone still claim it as their own landmark." Minato answered, "I guess the Hidden Stone likes stones."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

( _Somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Danzo sat at a desk in a dark room. Two candles on either side of the table burned lightly, papers were scattered across the surface. They contained profiles on ninja of the village, most of them had black crosses inked over their photos. Danzo looked up from his desk and stared into the shadows. A man melted from out of the dark stood in front of the desk and fell to one knee. He was cloaked all in black and wore a white mask that resembled a tiger's face.

"My lord." The man said.

Danzo stood and walked over to his subordinate.

"Tiger, how was the scout?"

"We found some potentials. I made a list."

"Stand." Tiger stood and handed Danzo a folder. Danzo opened the folder and took out a piece of paper before sitting back down behind his desk. Danzo scanned the contents of the page. It was a list of names.  
 _Shigo Aburame. Age 17. Possesses beetles with enhanced tracking abilities.  
Rano Inuzuka. Age 22. Possesses a Jutsu that fuses his body with his ninja hound temporarily.  
Inoshin Yamanaka. Age 20. Possesses a Jutsu that alters memories.  
Zata Uchiha. Age 18. Awakened Sharingan and exceptional skill in water style.  
Hanamaru Sarutobi. Age 24. Exceptional skill with fire style.  
Tazusa Kurama. Age 19. Possesses potent Genjutsu._

"My lord, we are looking at many more potentials as we speak, we will make a complete list for you as well as add any new additions to the search."

"I trust you know that I'm only looking for the best," Danzo demanded.

"Of course, my lord."

"Have you found the location of the Uchiha and the Hyuga that were captured by the Hidden Mist?"

"Yes, we have a team on standby at the site ready for extraction."

"Well done, Tiger. Once they are rescued bring them both to me immediately. A Hyuga by my side will be perfect. Another piece to add to my collection."

Tiger walked backwards and dissolved in the shadows. Danzo returned his attention to the list.

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Land of Fire_ )

Four Root members are hidden and tucked away in the thick canopy of trees. All of them are robed in black and are wearing white masks which resemble animals. The Root members are watching a group of four Hidden Mist ninja converse with each other outside the mouth of a cave. One of the four ninja who was wearing a spider-shaped mask spoke first.

"Monkey and I will be the only two who will go inside the cave looking for the Uchiha and the Hyuga. Fox, Snake, the two of you will stay here and wait for our return. Once we make it back out with the prisoners back us up as we leave. If anyone tries to enter the cave while we are in there, kill them immediately. Also, if any enemies try to escape, kill them as well. Do not come in after us unless requested. Understood?"

"Yes sir," replied Monkey, Fox, and Snake.

"Wait for my signal." Said Spider.

The group of Mist ninja finally finished their conversation and split up. Two walked inside the cave the other two remained outside to guard the entrance.

"Monkey, get ready, we're going in." Spider said.

"Right." Monkey silently jumped down from the tree landing on the soft grass. He put his palm flat on the ground. "Eight enemy ninja in total, six Chunin and two Jonin. The Uchiha and Hyuga captives are at the back of the cave."

Snake jumped down to the ground then formed the rat hand sign.

" **Ninja Art: Shadow Strangle Jutsu.** " Snake's shadow quickly extended, slithering its way across the ground, the Mist ninja only noticed the shadow at the last second. The shadow split and diverged into two paths like a snake's tongue and attached themselves to their targets shadow. In one fluid motion, the shadow of a hand stretched straight up to the Mist ninja's throat and began choking them to death.  
Monkey and Spider both jumped out of their hiding spots and sprinted into the cave. Running right past the two Mist ninja. One of them was on his knees grabbing his throat. The other was lying on his side meekly thrashing. None of them could make a sound.

The two Root shinobi quickly intercepted the other two Mist ninja that walked into the cave and took them both out silently then kept moving.

"Monkey, can you sense them?" Spider asked.

"There's a fork in the cave coming up, we're going to head to the left." Monkey said.

When they came to the fork they turned left. A few seconds later they saw a Mist kunoichi leaning against the wall. She noticed the Root ninja. Before she could get a word out or take any action, Spider leaped at her and kicked her in the face, smashing her head against the rock wall, knocking her out. They continued forward then eventually turned right at a corner, in the distance was an opening to another round room. Monkey could sense three chakras.

A voice came from the room.

"Hey, do you guys hear footsteps?"

Monkey ran straight into the room first and immediately jumped into the air. He took in his surroundings. The prisoners were bound to one large wood post and gagged. Monkey landed on top of the post.

"Leaf ANBU! Kill them!" One Mist ninja screamed.

Spider entered the room next forming hand signs.

" **Wind Style: Wind Blade.** " Finishing with the dragon hand sign, a strong, tearing burst of wind cut the three remaining Mist ninja down. All three cried out as blood squirted out their chests and shoulders as they fell to their deaths. Monkey summoned a kunai from out his sleeve, jumped off the post and cut the bindings. The Uchiha and Hyuga clan members took out the cloths in their mouths.

"Thanks for saving us. I thought we were done for." Said a man with slicked-back hair and pale white eyes.

"It's not us you should be thanking, we were ordered to do this by Lord Danzo. He caught wind of your capture and sent us to free you. It's him you should be thanking, Hoza Hyuga and Enshi Uchiha."

"Don't worry we will." Said Hoza.

"Good," said Spider, "Because once we return to the village you will both have a meeting with him. Understood."

"No complaint's here." Said Enshi. The Uchiha was young, around 22 years of age, he had pitch black hair tied up into a bun. As they exited the cave back into the open, Fox and Snake both appeared in front of them.

"Mission successful. We return back to the Hidden Leaf Village and straight to Lord Danzo." Spider ordered.  
Everyone else agreed.

As they started to head back home, Spider saw the Mist kunoichi's body lying on the ground in the open field. Multiple kunai knives stabbed into her back.  
 _Must have tried to escape,_ He thought.  
 _All targets eliminated.  
No alarms raised.  
Silent and lethal.  
The way of Root._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Rhino Rock was a behemoth of a stone. Towering several hundreds of meters, casting an even more humongous shadow. Rhino Rock was perfectly carved into a curved horn, like a blade erupting from the ground attempting to strike the heavens. Theories arose about whether the rock was a natural occurrence or man-made, yet the answer is still unknown. The mystery is part of its charm. Minato was cautious and a little unsettled, because Rhino Rock was, in fact, quite a popular tourist attraction for the villagers in the Land of Grass. There were many tourists at the rock at this very moment, marvelling at the wonder of the giant stone. However, Minato seemed to be drawing chatter and glances towards himself. After all, it was quite rare to be in the presence of the Leaf Villages very own Yellow Flash. Some people didn't know where to look, turning from the Rhino Rock to Minato. That made Minato even more suspicious. The Hidden Stone must be moving the scroll out in the public eye. Not that the public would know the contents of the scroll or its severity in having it fall into enemy hands.  
Hiding in plain sight.  
There weren't any stone shinobi around now. Not ruling out that they might return, Minato didn't want to fight in an area surrounded by civilians, but he didn't think the stone ninja would share that same sentiment.

"There's a lot of people here just to see a giant rock." Obito pointed out.

"It is a landmark, besides, I think it's quite astonishing really, to see the power of mother nature," Rin added.

"Focus on the mission," Kakashi said

Kakashi and Obito had kept speaking to each other at the absolute minimum. Barely talking at all after the incident with the three stone ninja.

"Come on you three, this way," Minato called out. As they walked from the rock, they came to a seating area where other travellers had sat down to rest. Obito sat down and watched as two kids were playing ninja on the grass, pretending to fight and making hand signs. Obito smiled at the children's innocents. Immediately he thought back to the fight earlier. Kakashi had always said that Obito's only real talent came from the power of his Sharingan. He hated that Kakashi said that. Yet, he also hated how right he was. Without the Sharingan, Obito would be struggling a lot more on this mission. Which was why Obito tried not to use in every fight. He wanted to show Kakashi and his whole team that he could be powerful and skilful without the need to rely on the Sharingan.  
That had almost got Kakashi killed.  
Despite what Obito says and shows, he did feel bad it.  
It's not just what Kakashi said either. Obito still remembered the day that he was told he would be the student of the legendary Yellow Flash of the Leaf, he could barely contain his excitement. A part of Obito always feels invincible and indestructible whenever he is with his sensei. No matter what Obito does wrong or what he doesn't do, he never felt any danger when with his sensei. Although Minato had saved Kakashi, he knew that was no way to think. He couldn't rely on his sensei being there forever.  
Obito had to grow into his own.  
He is also a shinobi of the Leaf.  
Obito looked at Kakashi.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"N…nothing," Obito replied.

Obito looked away from Kakashi and scanned the park. He saw a couple making out near a group of tree trunks. Immediately his mind thought of himself and Rin. He blushed and pushed the thought out.  
Something else, however, did catch his eye. On the tree where the couple was kissing was an arrow that had been carved into the wall. At the same time, even with all the background noise of people speaking and laughing he head another child speak.

"Mummy, what does that arrow on the tree mean?" Obito looked at the spot where the child was looking and saw another arrow.

"Obito, what are you staring at?" Minato asked.

"Sensei, it might be nothing, but look at that." Obito pointed to the tree. "There's another one over there."

Minato stood up and walked over to the kissing couple and stared right at them. They stopped immediately.

"Dude, do you mind?" The boyfriend said harshly.

"Oh my god, you're the Yellow Flash." The girlfriend said.

"Sorry about this, guys, but could I take over this spot?"

"Of course, we were just leaving. Come on," The girlfriend yanked her partner with her. "He is so dreamy, those eyes."

"I'm right here." Exclaimed the boyfriend.

Kakashi, Obito, and Rin came to their sensei's side all staring at the carved arrow.

"Look there's more," Obito pointed out. More trees further out also had arrows carved into them. Minato went to the other tree to look at the arrow then returned to his team.

"We've got groups of Stone ninja tracking down other groups, passing the scroll from one team to another. Now we have arrows carved into trees showing directions. The other tree has the same thing and there are more arrows that lead further into the forest. It's very coincidental. It looks like the enemy has split up into two different directions." Minato explained.

"It could be a trap," Kakashi said.

"Even so, I think this is too important of a lead to be dismissing." Minato looked at his students, specifically at Kakashi and Obito. "As much as I don't want to do this, I believe we're going to have to split up. I'll go alone and follow one trail. The three of you will travel together and follow the other trail. If there's a chance that a group that has the scroll is on one of these paths, we must take the chance to apprehend them. Even if it means splitting up."

"I will obey your orders sensei," Kakashi said.

"So will I," said Obito.

"Good, I think it's obvious, but I will say it again since Kakashi is a Jonin he will be team captain."

"Yes, sir. I won't let you down."

"One more thing before we leave. This mission is extremely important. If the enemy gets that scroll back to their village they could learn all the secrets of our villages clans, including the Uchiha's Sharingan. If they had that information, it would devastate our village. Especially if the Hidden Stone shared that information with other villages. That being said, I would rather lose the scroll then lose the three of you."

"Sensei!?" Kakashi started to say.

"Listen to me," Minato cut him off, "Stay together, stay vigilant, plan ahead and plan smart. If you encounter the enemy don't hold back. Kakashi, Obito, despite your differences I know that you care for one another, work together, fight together. You're all stronger as a team then you are apart. Kakashi, use your intellect and your knowledge of your teammate's abilities to gain the best advantage you can. Obito, do not be afraid to show your true power. You are an Uchiha, be proud of it, if you do you'll become an opponent that enemies will fear. Embrace that. Is that clear."

"Yes sensei." Kakashi and Obito said it in unison.

Minato smiled, "Rin, keep the boys safe will you."

"Of course, sensei."

Minato extended his arm in front of his team. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin placed their hands on Minato's, one hand on top of the other.

"Good luck, team," Minato said.

"Same to you, sensei," said his three students.

Team Minato split up. They began following their own individual trails.

* * *

( _Somewhere near the border of the Land of Grass_ )

It was night, darkness surrounded the three stone ninja, the only light coming from a small campfire burning dimly. Sayatsuchi sat on a log in front of the flames, warming her hands. It offered little comfort as her bones shivered in the night's cold. Hamatsuchi and Ametsuchi sat close to her, soaking in as much as the fire's warmth they could.

"Damn, wish we could make a bigger fire," Ametsuchi said.

"You know why we can't," replied Sayatsuchi.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Bigger fire means more attention." Ametsuchi's eagle summon flew down from the black sky. He could hear the bird's wing beat and readied his arm out as a landing pad.  
The eagle landed on his master's arm.  
Ametsuchi took a piece of paper that was strapped to his eagle's leg then told his summon to go back out into the night sky and keep a sharp eye out. The eagle ascended, eventually vanishing into the sky.

"Looks like it's our time to shine. The scroll will be given to us within the next ten minutes." Ametsuchi told his team. His two teammates said nothing and kept waiting.

Around ten minutes later a bush started to ruffle. A huge, bulky man wearing a standard stone ninja outfit and a bandana covering his head brushed past the bush and stood in front of Sayatsuchi and her two comrades.

"Right on time," Ametsuchi said.

"I wasn't followed, I made sure." The newcomer said.

"You have the scroll?" asked Sayatsuchi. The newly arrived ninja placed his hand into his back pocket and took out a scroll. Sayatsuchi stood up and took the scroll off the man.  
"This whole mission has led up to this point. We're the last group the closest to the border but we're not close to the village. We'll make our move now." Sayatsuchi said.  
She turned and handed the scroll to Ametsuchi. "You're our best sensory type ninja out here, you'll take the scroll back to the village alone, you can sense enemies the furthest away which means it should be easy for you to take alternate routes and remain undetected. As planned Hamatsuchi and I, along with you." She faced the bulky ninja, "Will regroup with the other groups and form a miniature army to keep the enemy away from you as long as possible. I don't need to tell you how important this mission is, so don't screw up, Ametsuchi."

"Don't worry about me, this war is now practically won with this information in our hands." Ametsuchi boasted. "Alright, I'm done here, I'll start heading back to the village, I will see you all there." Ametsuchi leaped into the dark night, making his way back to his village.

"We still have another three hours before we regroup with the others. Sit down, Daizo, eat something, you'll need your strength." Sayatsuchi said.

"Is that the new guy everyone keeps talking about?" Daizo questioned.

"Yep, that's him, doesn't offer much of a conversation."

Hamatsuchi smiled at that remark.

"They say his strong though."

"I hope so. We are going to need that strength."

Daizo sat down on a log next to Sayatsuchi with a bowl of soup, chopped carrots and onions swimming around in the steaming broth.

"I take it you've heard the rumours going around?" Daizo asked.

"The Leaf has sent the legendary Yellow Flash after us. His avoided every trap we've set up and taken out a squad. But he is still one man, as skilled as they say he is, I doubt he can take on an entire squadron by himself."

"He's got a team with him."

"Two Chunin and a Jonin. I've dealt with stronger and larger groups."

Taking all three stone ninja by surprise. A loud _Boom_ sounded off in the distance followed by a small earthquake. The stone ninja turned to face the source of the sound.

"There's no way the leaf ninja could be this far up," Sayatsuchi said incredulously. "You two let's go." Sayatsuchi formed the snake hand sign, the earth beneath the bonfire separated. The bonfire fell into the underground abyss, the earth then reformed back into solid ground. Erasing the evidence. The three stone ninja jumped into the jungle.

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Danzo sat at his desk, waiting. Dimly lit candles decorating the corners of the table. A knock came at his door.

"Enter!" Called out Danzo. The door opened. The Root member who wore the spider mask entered the room followed by the Hyuga and Uchiha that he had saved with his teammates. Danzo sat up and moved to the front of his desk. "Hoza Hyuga, Enshi Uchiha, it is good to see you two doing so well. I am glad that the two of you weren't badly injured during your capture."

Hoza and Enshi stood in front of Danzo but then both fell to one knee.

"Lord Danzo," Enshi said. "It is our pleasure to meet you like this, we owe you a great deal of gratitude for saving us."

"We also owe our gratitude to the ANBU members who infiltrated the cave to reach us," Hoza said, only now just realising that Spider had vanished from the room.

"Please, you shower me with too many thanks. The two of you come from powerful clans and possess powerful Kekkai Genkai, losing the two off you would be a huge loss to the village." Danzo said.

"Still if there is any way that we can return the favour and be of some assistance to you, we would like the chance to repay you," Enshi said.

"Well if you insist on repaying debts, how about this. I would like you both to join me in my ranks," Hoza and Enshi were both taken aback by the suggestion. "Imagine the good we could do for this village with you on my side. We are at war with the other Hidden Villages, I need strong capable shinobi by my side to defend it. Who better to serve the village then members of the esteemed Uchiha and Hyuga clan? Your two clans are the roots of the tree that is the Leaf Village. There is no one more fitting then you to join me." Danzo's words were like sugar, sweet to listen to but the more you got to taste the worse the ending.

Enshi spoke first, yet his mind struggled to form sentences. In the end, though he had made his decision.

"My lord, I must say you continue to surprise me, you offer us a gracious request. I owe you my life, I would be willing to serve under you. Of course, I would have to run it by my family first, but I don't see any issues rising up."

"That's excellent news Enshi. What about you Hoza?" Danzo stared at Hoza with a piercing gaze like a lion hunting for deer.

"My lord, just like Enshi I do owe you my life. However, you know that the elders of the Hyuga clan are stubborn. I am afraid that they will never allow a Hyuga to join the ranks of the ANBU. They believe that the Byakugan should stay with the clan. I am sorry, but I cannot join you."

"Do not worry yourself, Hoza, I understand," Danzo said. "Let's end this conversation for now, I'm sure the two of you would like some rest and to reunite with your families. Once again it is good to have you back."

"Thank you, Lord Danzo," Enshi said.

"Thank you, Lord Danzo," Hoza Said

Enshi and Hoza left the room closing the door behind them. Danzo sat back down behind his desk.

"Spider, Snake, Monkey," Danzo called. Spider and Snake materialized from out the shadows, while Monkey dropped down from the ceiling. "Spider and Snake you will not allow the Uchiha or Hyuga to leave the compound, throw them into the dungeon. Into the chakra suppressing cells. Monkey you will tell the families of both Enshi and Hoza that their sons died during their kidnapping. Once you're done with that bring in Inoshin Yamanaka, it is time we put him to work."

The three Root ninja all nodded in unison then disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

( _Somewhere near the border of the Land of Grass_ )

Sayatsuchi, Hamatsuchi, and Daizo all rushed to the scene where they heard the explosion. While they were rushing through the trees another lonesome stone ninja was running in the opposite direction.

"What's happening?" Sayatsuchi asked.

"My squad was ambushed. The attack came from out of nowhere. We believe it's only one enemy… argh." The lone stone ninja suddenly tumbled straight to the ground, a kunai knife sticking into the back of his neck. Sayatsuchi's group halted.

"Yellow Flash, show yourself. Time for you to die." Sayatsuchi yelled out. She figured the element of surprise was gone, no point in being silent now. Bushes ruffled above her head, she was just able to see a shadowy figure dive toward her with a kunai in hand. She dodged his initial swipe then jumped off the tree trunk landing on the ground. Her two comrades joined her at the bottom. "You two get ready. Hamatsuchi, time for you show us what you got."

Hamatsuchi said nothing but smiled.

It was night and so the shadows were thick and plentiful every corner, every bush every turn was just darkness. Yet, the three stone ninja could sense an enemy in front of them. A few seconds later they could feel the presence of three more enemy ninja. Daizo reached into his back pouch and took out a kunai with a flash bomb attached. He threw the kunai into the air.  
The flash bomb exploded, shooting bright white lights that illuminated the forest floor. To the surprise of the stone ninja, they were confronted by four ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.

Sayatsuchi's mind had immediately done a backflip. Her comprehension of the situation was confounded, she couldn't understand why the Mist would be here attacking and killing Stone ninja.  
Did the Mist Village know that the Stone Village had the scroll of the Leaf's clans? Was the Mist Village after the scroll for themselves? Question after question ran through her mind but nothing made sense. Eventually, she decided to play the event out in the way that she had been trained to.  
Kill the enemy.

"Daizo! Hamatsuchi! Kill them!" Sayatsuchi screamed.

One mist ninja charged towards Daizo trying to punch his face. Daizo used his forearm to block the punch then used his own muscular arm to punch the enemy in the side of his head. Upon contact a sharp crack erupted from the mist ninja's skull, he smashed into the floor and stopped moving. A second mist ninja jumped into the air, formed some hand signs, inhaled, then breathed out a large stream of water.

" **Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu.** " The stream of water took the form of a dragon and charged towards the three stone ninja. Hamatsuchi formed his own hand signs then shot out a small rock dart from his mouth. The rock dart sped through the air then grew to become a rock spear. The rock spear hit the water dragon and passed right through it like a missile swimming through water. The spear impaled the mist ninja in the stomach in mid-air and pinned the ninja onto a nearby tree. The water dragon lost momentum and form, simply falling and crashing into the ground. More mist ninja attacked from behind. One of them grabbed Hamatsuchi by the waist and threw him to the ground. Hamatsuchi's body turned to mud. The mist ninja backed away in shock. Hamatsuchi shot out of the mud and gripped his opponent's neck, lifting him off the ground. He tossed the man behind him, making him collide with his two comrades. All three of them toppled to the ground. Before giving the three mist ninja time to recover, the silent stone ninja ran forward. He kicked one mist ninja down right as he got back up then effortlessly dodged a punch from the second mist ninja, spun around and away from him, then as the third mist ninja tried to punch Hamatsuchi he grabbed the man's fist pulled him closer then grabbed the ninjas head and gave it a powerful twist. Hamatsuchi formed the snake sign, submerging himself below the earth.

"Be careful, there's no telling where he'll come out from," One of the mist ninja warned.

Hamatsuchi rocketed out of the ground uppercutting a mist ninja launching him into the air. While in mid-air the stone ninja reached into the pouch of the mist ninja grabbed a handful of kunai and threw them at the other mist ninja showering him in blades of steel. The last of Hamatsuchi's enemies landed on his back, Hamatsuchi landed a second later. He then grabbed the sprawled ninja and began choking him. Hamatsuchi's eyes were wide with content, his lips stuck in an extended smile.  
He was enjoying this.

Sayatsuchi unwrapped her whip around her waist then gave it a flick, the whip licked the face of a mist ninja knocking him down, the whip then recoiled itself. A second mist ninja holding a katana swiped at Sayatsuchi. She gripped a part of her whip with her other hand and pulled tightly, blocking her opponent's sword strikes with the whip. She kept blocking until she found an opening to counter-attack. She threw her arms around the mist ninja's head and pulled the whip tightly around his neck, like a garrotte wire. She fed her chakra into the whip gave a sharp pull upwards and decapitated her enemy. Letting the whip go with her second hand she flicked it again and it wrapped around the neck of the last remaining mist ninja.

"You… you bastards, you're going to pay." The mist ninja could scarcely breathe with the whip around his neck.

"Why are you here?" Sayatsuchi asked, "Why are you attacking us?"

"Don't… don't pretend like you don't know. We had a squad… of eight ninja who captured two leaf shinobi… an Uchiha and a Hyuga. My team and I were sent to check up on them… when we got there you stone ninja had already killed all our comrades. I… I don't know why you guys are working with the Leaf… but you're all going to pay.

Sayatsuchi didn't want to listen to any more of what this man had to say, she was already confused enough as it was. Feeding her chakra into the whip she gave her whip a pull. The whip decapitated the last enemy ninja and then refolded around its master hand.

Hamatsuchi had finished strangling his enemy then joined his teammates. Corpses of both Stone and Mist ninja littered the ground. Finally, the light from the flash bomb dissipated and the world fell back to clouded darkness. Kunai and shuriken reflected dim moonlight off its steel.

"Any idea what that was about?" Daizo asked.

"No clue, but I'm beginning to think that this mission just got a lot more complicated," Sayatsuchi replied. She now believed that the Hidden Stone- for reasons she didn't understand yet- was going to have to fight against Mist village forces.

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Leaf Village_ )

Dusk was setting on the Leaf Village; the orange glow of the sky was mixed with a dark purple. Tazusa Kurama was walking around the village, soaking in the warmth of the sun. Even amongst the Kurama clan whose members were well known for their Genjutsu skills, Tazusa's skill with Genjutsu was above even the adults of her clan. It was because of her skill that the clan rarely gave her free time. Between representing the clan at meetings and high levelled missions she didn't get a lot of time for herself. However, every once and awhile she was given the odd day off to relax. Tazusa didn't have a destination, she wondered the streets allowing the village roads to take her where they willed.

After wandering around for 30 minutes she found herself at a park, all alone, leaning against a railing. She had a beautiful view of the Leaf Village, it looked so peaceful, hard to think that the five villages were at war with one another. A breeze swept past, her long, orange hair swayed with the wind.

Tazusa heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see two ANBU black ops members facing her. One of them was wearing a mask that resembled a Praying Mantis, lime green dots circled the masks eyes holes. The other wore a mask that looked mostly human, but half of the masks face was blue, while the other was left plain white. Both men wore the standard black cloaks of the ANBU.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" Tazusa asked calmly, her face sweet and serene.

"Yes, you can, Tazusa, we've come here to show you something." The ANBU wearing the Mantis mask walked forwards.

"What is it?" Tazusa was curious, perhaps that's what made her so unexpecting. Mantis extended his index and middle fingers on both hands and withdrew his other fingers.  
The standard position for the Gentle Fist.  
With lightning quick strikes, Mantis had jabbed dozens of Tazusa's chakra points in her torso.

Tazusa's body immediately started going numb, her vision started to blur before blackening. The last thought that went through her mind as she fell unconscious was; _There aren't any Hyuga members in the ANBU._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kakashi, Obito, and Rin ran through a dense forest, leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk. The three-man squad was still following the trail left by arrows carved into various trees. Kakashi had also summoned two of his ninja hounds to scout out areas that were further away from the trail. Taking precautions against enemy ambushes. However, the three Leaf ninja hadn't encountered any danger out in the forest for a long while. While that did sound like a good thing, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little distressed by the matter. He knew that there were several Stone ninja squads out in this forest, he was worried that he was leading his team into a trap.  
Minato had ordered Kakashi to lead Obito and Rin through this part of the mission and he was not going to let his sensei down. Kakashi thought back to what Minato had said earlier about Their lives taking priority over the scroll. Both Minato and the Third Hokage had said how important getting the scroll back was. The entire village was at risk if the scroll got back to the Stone Village. Kakashi liked to think of himself as a capable shinobi, but could he put his life before the scrolls? It went against the rules, he was a ninja his two comrades as well, they should be willing to die for this mission. That's how Kakashi felt anyway, he wasn't sure about Obito and Rin.  
It wasn't helping Kakashi to have those thoughts, so he pushed them away and focused on the mission in the present time. He would do whatever it took to keep Obito and Rin alive and succeed in the mission. Kakashi saw another carved arrow and followed its direction, turning slightly westwards and began following that path.

After around five minutes the team came to another tree with a carved arrow, but something was wrong with this one.

"You two, stop here," Kakashi called out. Obito and Rin stopped at Kakashi's request.

"What's wrong?" Obito asked.

"Look at this." Kakashi pointed to the arrow, only it wasn't an arrow, it was just a straight line. The arrow part hadn't been carved in. A kunai knife was also lodged into the tree's thick round body.

"Great, there goes our only lead," Obito complained.

"What do you think happened?" Rin asked.

"It's possible that they know we're following them. Only thing is, if that was the case then why haven't we met any resistance from the stone ninja. The kunai concerns me too, why leave it here?" Kakashi answered.

"Maybe something else happened to them?" Obito said.

"Yeah, but what? Are we the only ones after the Hidden Stone ninja?"

Off in the distance, a loud howl travelled through the forest.  
Kakashi's ninja hounds.

"Looks like they found something," Kakashi said. "Let's go." The three ninja made their way towards the location of the ninja hounds howling.

Even before the group made it to the ninja hounds location Kakashi could smell the blood and death.  
They arrived at a massacre.  
There were half a dozen Stone Village ninja sprawled out on the floor, blood spilled forth from some corpses while at other locations the ground had turned red from soaked blood. Kunai and shuriken littered the floor and massive cracked boulders decorated the battle scene, most likely from Ninjutsu.

"Nice work, you two," The two ninja hounds made their way to Kakashi's side.  
Obito knelt by a corpse that was a couple of meters away from the stone ninja.

"Far from home, aren't you?"

Kakashi came to Obito's side. "Hidden Mist ninja, here?"

"Most of the corpses haven't started to coagulate blood, which means this was a recent battle, perhaps overnight," Rin suggested.

"I'm more concerned if the enemy of our enemy is our friend, or if we have another enemy we need to watch out for," Kakashi said.

"It's the Hidden Mist Village were talking about, everyone hates them, they hate everyone," Obito quipped, "Still, it's curious why they would come out here when the Land of Water is on the other side of the world."

"The only logical explanation is that the Hidden Mist must know that the Hidden Stone have our scroll and now they're after it themselves," Kakashi said.

"Why are the Leaf Villager's so talented that everyone has to know our secrets." Obito Joked. Kakashi looked at Obito with a face that suggested this was not something to joke about.

From behind the group, another voice shouted out.

Kakashi immediately told his hounds to go, and so they did with a puff of white smoke. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin ran and hid behind a dense, thick bush. Hopefully, the newcomers would miss them. They weren't here to fight every enemy they came across; their purpose was to retrieve the scroll. The more time Kakashi and his friends spent fighting the less time there was left to retake what was stolen.  
Two Stone ninja appeared at the battlefield, they scanned the carnage around them.

"I'd like to know why the Mist is getting involved in all this. All these men killed, for what?"

Kakashi noted the fact that even the Stone Village was surprised with the appearance of the Mist village. Something strange was definitely going on.

"I'd rather deal with the Mist then the Yellow Flash. Words spread that he singlehandedly killed three of our units. That ninja is dangerous."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile under his mask. It was good to know that his sensei was wreaking havoc among the Stone ninja. Kakashi didn't want to waste any more time here. He motioned for Obito and Rin to slowly and carefully retreat so that the three of them could return to tracking the scroll.  
As soon as the trio began to move a _thud_ sounded right next to them. All three young ninja turned to see a kunai stuck in the ground with a paper-bomb attached to it. There was no point in hiding anymore.

"RUN!" Kakashi screamed. The three ninja jumped out of the bush just seconds before the bomb went off. A bright flash of white, then yellow and red and huge _bang_ followed. Dirt and rock soared into the air. The ground shook beneath the feet of the young ninja. The debris then fell, showering Kakashi, Obito, and Rin in soft dirt and mud.  
The two Stone ninja turned towards the explosion.

"You think we didn't notice you, huh?"

A second later, three more stone ninja jumped down from the forest canopy and surround Kakashi's group.  
Clapping. Kakashi heard someone clapping. He looked behind him and saw a Stone ninja squatting horizontally on a thick tree.  
The ninja smiled. Smiled and clapped.

"Hamatsuchi, what do we do with them?"

Hamatsuchi stopped clapping and raised one arm and put a thumbs up. He then dragged it across his throat. He never stopped smiling.

"You three kids aren't the Yellow Flash so there isn't any glory in killing you but you're still the enemy." One Stone ninja said.

The group of Stone ninja took out kunai and threw them at the Leaf ninja.  
None of the kunai hit their mark. From out of sight, multiple kunai had been thrown that deflected the kunai from the Stone ninja. Before the Stone ninja could recover from their bewilderment a large tentacle of water shot out from one of the bushes, wrapped around one of the Stone ninja and dragged him into the deep forest as he screamed. Suddenly multiple ninja from the Mist village attacked the ninja from the Stone village. Kakashi was feeling both shocked and a little relieved. They were saved but the number of enemies may have just doubled. One Mist ninja had stabbed a Stone ninja with a kunai while another Stone Ninja had punched a Mist ninja with a **Rock Fist.** The area had become a battlefield for the second time.

"Obito, the three of us stick together, we protect Rin, got it," Kakashi ordered. Before Obito could get out a reply, a giant wall of earth rose up, splitting Kakashi from his two friends. The rock wall began moving into Kakashi, forcing him to back away further from Obito and Rin.

"Shit," Kakashi whispered to himself. He could only hope that Obito could protect Rin without him. Hamatsuchi jumped and landed on top of the rock wall. A Mist ninja appeared behind him, hoping to catch him off guard. Hamatsuchi backflipped dodging the ninja and then kicked the ninja in the back. The Mist ninja slammed his face into the corner of the wall, his face instantly painted with blood. He fell to the ground. Hamatsuchi then jumped at Kakashi and tried he punch him. Kakashi caught his fist and threw him away. Hamatsuchi landed then quickly leaped back at Kakashi throwing all the punches and kicks he could, Kakashi dodged all the attacks but he could tell that his opponent was skilled.  
Hamatsuchi formed several hand signs and inhaled when he exhaled he shot out dozens of small fireballs. Kakashi had dodged a lot of fireballs in his training with Obito, granted these fireballs were slightly faster but the principal was the same, none of the fireballs hit Kakashi. The silver-haired ninja took out a kunai and threw it at his enemy. Hamatsuchi expertly caught the kunai in mid-flight and sent back at Kakashi, the kunai's speed was greater when it came back, and it caught Kakashi off guard, his cheek was cut by it.  
Kakashi wanted to get away from the ground, seeing as there was already multiple battle taking place, he thought a less crowded area would help. He jumped onto a tree and began running up it. Hamatsuchi followed. Hamatsuchi's superior speed allowed him to get in front of Kakashi. Hamatsuchi swept his foot and knocked Kakashi off balance. Kakashi fell to the ground, as soon as his body hit the ground it vanished in a puff of smoke.  
A shadow clone.  
The real Kakashi appeared on top of Hamatsuchi and ran at him with one hand in his back pocket. Hamatsuchi jumped off of the tree only to feel a tug on one of his wrists. Kakashi threw a wire that had wrapped around the Stone ninja's wrist and he reeled him back into close quarters. Kakashi jumped onto his enemy and hugged him tightly then pointed both their heads to the ground and executed the **Primary Lotus.  
** Hamatsuchi was smashed into the ground, dust and rock flew everywhere. Kakashi was thrown back skidding along the hard ground, he stopped rolling right next to a Mist ninja corpse. Kakashi's breath quickened and he was breathing more harshly than before. As the dust and debris cleared a small crater was left in the place where Hamatsuchi had landed, only he wasn't there. A puddle of mud melted in his place.  
A hand had burst from out of the ground and Kakashi didn't notice it in time. The hand balled into a fist and punched Kakashi in the stomach. The young ninja backed away but didn't fall. Hamatsuchi's whole body was now visible and he wrapped his hand around Kakashi's neck and slammed him into a tree.  
His grip was tight. Kakashi tried to breathe but he couldn't get any air into his lungs. Red veins crept their way into Kakashi's eyes and his vision was a mixture of blackness and white spots.  
Kakashi felt his body losing life as it started going numb. He usually fought with strategic accuracy and made no wasted movements. Now he felt like he would try anything to escape his enemies grasp, even if it was reckless. As difficult as it was the young ninja gathered his chakra. Kakashi was able to form three hand signs despite his situation and raised one arm to Hamatsuchi's head.  
There was no control in the Jutsu.  
Tendrils of electricity burst forth from out of Kakashi's hand, a shockwave of lightning instantly passed through Hamatsuchi's body. Even though the **Lightning Blade** started to disappear just as soon as it was called forth, it succeeded in doing its job. Hamatsuchi let Kakashi go and backed away quickly. The chakra present in Kakashi's Jutsu was so dense that the earth beneath him cracked open.  
Hamatsuchi wore a vicious smile. He was enjoying this.

Obito wanted nothing more than to help Kakashi fight his enemy but he knew he couldn't. Rin wasn't a damsel in distress, but she was a medical ninja which meant her life was important. Rin hadn't needed to use her medical Ninjutsu, which was a good thing, but it didn't mean that there wouldn't be a need for it later.  
After Obito's mistake that almost got Kakashi killed he was trying harder to follow orders and Kakashi's order was to protect Rin and that's what he was going to do.  
This time Obito had his Sharingan active.  
A Stone ninja threw two shuriken at Obito. From Obito's point of view, the shuriken moved in slow motion. He easily deflected them. As the Stone ninja came at Obito, the young Uchiha grabbed two kunai, one for each hand. His enemy's attack was easy to read, Obito saw the attack coming before it was even made. He dodged a punch to the head and cut the Stone ninja Down.  
Two Mist ninja engaged him next. The first attacker came at Obito swinging a katana, Obito front flipped above the attack then swiped his kunai along the ninja's back. The second Mist ninja tried to kick Obito from behind, Obito ducked under his foot then cut him down as well.

"Argh," Obito looked up to see a Stone ninja holding Rin's hair with one hand while his other hand held a kunai to her throat. Obito went to take a step but the Stone ninja shook his head.  
Medical Ninjutsu was mostly used for healing, however, Rin had picked up a few medical tricks in her studies and found that Medical Ninjutsu can also be used to harm instead of heal. Rin focused her chakra in her palms and grabbed her capture's wrist. The man let out a howl, let Rin go and immediately dropped his kunai to the ground. Obito took the chance to launch a kunai that pierced the man's throat, killing him. Obito came to Rin's side

"What did you do?" Obito asked.

"I weakened the tendons in his wrist," Rin replied.

"You can do that?"

"Yeah."

"That's badass."

Kakashi was given no time to recuperate after almost being choked to death. After Hamatsuchi had backed away he launched a **Fireball Jutsu** at Kakashi which he narrowly dodged by jumping upwards and sticking to the trunk of a tree. Hamatsuchi picked a katana off the ground and charged after Kakashi.  
Kakashi was trained to keep his emotions in check at all times. He never let himself get frustrated or overly confident in the middle of battle. However, now with his battle against this Stone ninja, Kakashi was beginning to panic. His opponent was incredibly strong. Talented in both Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and weapons control. Kakashi wracked his brain but couldn't come up with a strategy to beat his opponent. He could only try one more thing and he wasn't sure how well it would work if it at all.  
As Hamatsuchi ran up the tree, Kakashi created a shadow clone which drew his white light sabre and sent it after Hamatsuchi. The Stone ninja and Kakashi's close locked their swords together. The real Kakashi jumped back down to the ground just below the tree and reactivated his **Lighting Blade**. This time Kakashi had full control of the Jutsu and wasn't being choked to death.  
Still, Minato had warned Kakashi about using this Jutsu because he felt as if the Jutsu was not yet perfected.  
Kakashi pushed that thought out of his mind, he had no choice. To win this battle and protect his friends he would use the Lightning Blade even if it was a danger to himself.  
With bolts of electricity pulsating out in all directions, the dense chakra breaking apart the ground, the air around him becoming heavy, Kakashi knew now was the time.  
Kakashi jumped on the tree and with amazing speed charged at Hamatsuchi's back. The sound of a thousand birds chirping dominated all other sounds.  
Obito and Rin heard it as well and they both looked up at Kakashi.

"Kakashi! Don't use that Jutsu," Obito screamed. Obito panicked, he knew that Minato had forbidden Kakashi from using the Lightning Blade. Obito surmised that Kakashi must have been desperate if he had to fall back on that technique. Without thinking Obito ran after Kakashi to help, leaving Rin behind.  
Hamatsuchi was eventually able to push the clone's sword aside and cut its chest. The clone disappeared instantly.  
Hamatsuchi turned to see Kakashi charging straight at him, the young shinobi's body becoming a blur of speed. Hamatsuchi instinctively threw his katana at Kakashi.  
The problem with the Lighting Blade is that Kakashi moves at such high speeds that it inhibits him from counter-attacking. Leaving him open to attacks. Kakashi saw the sword flying at him but couldn't get out if its way.  
All he could do to hopefully avoid death was raise his arm of electricity and strike the steel blade with his Lightning Blade. The katana shattered, a large piece of steel flew right past Kakashi's head.  
Obito was chasing after Kakashi but he had deactivated his Sharingan, if he hadn't he would have seen the fragmented blade coming at him. The small blade sliced Obito's right eye and forehead. Obito yelled and lost control of his chakra, his feet detached from the tree and he fell to the ground clutching his eye.  
Obito lost consciousness.

"Obito, No!" Kakashi turned to see Obito plunge into the ground. Kakashi slowed, his Lighting Blade had disappeared. Hamatsuchi ran at Kakashi. He punched Kakashi in the face then grabbed his head and slammed it into his knee. Hamatsuchi spun around and back-handed Kakashi then kicked him hard in the stomach. Kakashi coughed up blood and began falling to the ground like his friend before him. Kakashi hit the ground, slamming the back of his head. His vision burned white for an instant then a curtain of black took over his sight and Kakashi passed out.  
Hamatsuchi ran down the tree to finish his enemy off. Before he could, a Mist ninja threw an explosive kunai at him. Hamatsuchi dodged the kunai but the ensuing explosion blasted Hamatsuchi to the ground. He got up quickly, saw the Mist ninja charging after him but easily killed him.  
When he turned to face the two young ninja on the ground they were gone. The young girl who was with them was missing too.  
Hamatsuchi never stopped smiling but his eyes furrowed, giving his face a happy pained look.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

( _In the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Orders were orders.  
Tiger's mission was to find the ninja that was on the list of potential candidates to join Lord Danzo in his quest. Perhaps the term _join_ was used loosely. Tiger would bring in his target whether they wanted to or not.  
Tiger was a ninja, he was following orders as all good ninja should. It isn't his place to question the legality of his actions. All his missions were carried out for the benefit of the Hidden Leaf Village.  
That was all that mattered.  
Tiger approached a house on the outskirts of the village. He casually walked up to the door and knocked three times. The door was answered by a middle-aged man wearing shades.

"ANBU!? Can I help you?"

"I'm here to see your son, Shigo Aburame." For the rest of his assignment, Tiger did not act so friendly. Shigo would join Root.  
Mission successful.

* * *

( _Elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Monkey had knocked out the entire Uchiha family while they conversed for dinner. The mother, father and younger brother all lay on the dinner table, unconscious because of the gas Monkey had used.  
Zata Uchiha also lay the table.  
Mission Successful.

* * *

( _Elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Snake watched as Rano Inuzuka walked his dog through a deserted village street. Every day at six O'clock, Rano would walk his dog around the village. It made his movements easy to predict  
A habit he would have to lose when he joined Root.  
Snake used his **Shadow Possession** to paralyse both Rano and his dog. He had claimed his target for Root.  
Mission successful.

* * *

( _Elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Hanamaru Sarutobi had been strapped to a chair, somewhere underground the Leaf Village. She thrashed around, but the restraints put on her didn't loosen.

"Don't make this more difficult for yourself girl." Danzo entered the room with a Root member with him. This Root member wore a mask that resembled a mammoth. Two tusks protruded from either side of the mask's mouth. "You know what to do Inoshin."

"What are going to do with me?" Hanamaru questioned.

"From Intel I've gathered, it seems like you are talented with Fire Style. I am looking for talented shinobi. That's all," Danzo replied. Danzo placed a hand on Inoshin's shoulder. "It is time, get to work."

The Root member stepped forward. He formed the hand sign that was common for members of the Yamanaka clan when performing their Mind based Jutsu. Mammoth aimed his hand sign at Hanamaru's head.

" **Ninja Art: Memory Construction Jutsu.** "

Hanamaru instantly tensed her whole body. Her mind felt like a bubble being popped open by a nail, she could feel the Root members mind penetrating her own.  
Memories of Hanamaru's life flashed before her eyes, her childhood, her days at the ninja academy, family, friends, all her memories were being washed away like the tide receding back to the ocean. As the tide began making its way back into her mind, new memories were being forged. Hanamaru saw flashes of Danzo and members of Root and ANBU that she didn't recognise. Places she had never been started feeling like home to her. Memory after memory, image after image, Hanamaru's mind felt like it was going to explode from the pressure. Until everything stopped. Her body lay limp on the chair, she was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

"Who are you?" Danzo asked.

"My name is irrelevant. I am here to serve Lord Danzo. I am a member of Root." Hanamaru felt at peace, she knew exactly who she was, a weapon, a tool. She would serve Root for the glory of the Leaf Village.

Danzo smiled graciously.

"Excellent job Mammoth. Stay here while I bring in your next target."

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Land of Grass)_

Rin was tired and hungry. She had used most of her chakra to get Obito and Kakashi out of the battlefield and heal their injuries to the best of her abilities. Rin wasn't the strongest ninja, but she had learned to use her chakra to stimulate her glands to produce excessive amounts of adrenaline. That energy going through her body was what allowed her to carry both her friends for enough time to get them to safety.  
Luckily, she had brought two scrolls along with her for the mission.  
One scroll summoned a modestly sized tent while the other summoned a medical kit. Both Kakashi and Obito were laying on the ground inside the tent both alive but still unconscious. Obito had bandages strapped around his head and his right eye. Kakashi also had bandages wrapped around his head. He had also lost a couple of teeth in his fight. Rin knew it was possible to use medical Ninjutsu to reattach fallen teeth, however, Rin was almost out of chakra and that procedure required precise chakra control.  
Rin found a small grove under a tree that was covered by plush leaves and vines that snaked around the tree. It provided cover for the two injured boys. Rin didn't know how long they would be out for and she couldn't leave them exposed. She had done all the healing she could now she needed to eat.  
The problem was all that was left was a loaf of stale bread, a couple of small pieces of cheese, and some bruised apples. There wasn't much water left either.  
Rin thought about letting her two teammates eat the last of the food - as they were injured- She thought it was the kind thing to do. She quickly realised that being selfless was pointless in her situation.  
All three ninja would need their strength, Rin sacrificing food to her friends would only put herself in danger. She would be weak and become a liability to her team.  
At this moment, Rin would have to be a ninja of the Hidden Leaf before Obito's and Kakashi's friend.  
Rin would have to go out and find food for herself.  
She had set out multiple traps around the encampment to protect them. She could only hope they would be enough.

Rin had set out to find food, carrying a small satchel with her to store whatever she could find. The satchel thankfully came with the tent.  
It was lucky she was a medic, Rin had been trained to distinguish between different types of leaves, berries, and mushrooms to determine which were safe to eat.  
She soon found a blueberry bush and picked a whole bunch, then wrapped them up in cloth, tied it up and put them in her satchel. Next, she found some edible mushrooms and put them in the satchel.  
Some ten minutes later she came to a pond that had some small fish swimming around, they weren't going to be a big feed, but Rin could not afford to be picky in this situation. Rin picked up a stick, carved the edge into a point and began spearing the fish.  
It would be unwise to start a campfire to cook the fish yet there was always Obito's fire style if they were desperate.  
Rin was able to catch four fish all about the size of a standard kunai. Rin decided that she would return to Obito and Kakashi, hopefully, she would return before they woke up. The last thing she wanted was for them to worry about her.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Rin saw something white and fuzzy jump near the pond.  
A rabbit.  
Rin thought she had gathered enough food, but she also didn't want to pass up on the chance of eating some real meat. Rin walked towards the rabbit but stepped on a twig and snapped it. The rabbit took off sprinting. Rin followed in pursuit.  
She was chasing the rabbit, weaving out of rocks and trees, jumping over roots and vines. The rabbit was quick on its feet.  
At one point the rabbit stopped to graze at some grass, Rin tip-toed towards her prey, being as silent as possible. When she got close enough she pounced on the rabbit, but the rabbit was too quick. It leaped forward, and Rin crashed to the floor, eating dirt. She got to her knees and rubbed her head.

"That was embarrassing," Rin whispered to herself.

Then, Rin heard voices. She immediately assumed it was either the Hidden Mist or Hidden Stone. Clearly, they weren't finished with the battle.  
The voices were getting closer, Rin got to her feet and ran forwards. She found a small ditch that was mostly covered by a log. Rin was small, so she was able to pass under the log and hide in the hole. She tried as best she could to slow and relax her breathing. Footsteps could be heard near her, she hoped that she wouldn't be noticed.

"There aren't any Hidden Mist or Stone ninja around. Good, let's hope they don't interfere with our mission. Minato's team should be out here somewhere."

Without realising it, Rin had become incredibly still, even her breathing was almost non-existent.  
 _Hidden Leaf ninja?_ She thought to herself. Possibly backup. Rin thought this was great, the village had come to help. She was about to step out of the ditch and reveal herself.

"Lord Danzo wants them brought back in the village."

Rin froze, it was the name, she didn't know why but she knew it was the name. She had only ever met the Leaf Village elder once when he personally came to congratulate Kakashi on becoming a Jonin. In fact, he seemed awfully interested in Kakashi, kept praising him and talking about how talented he was. It was slightly unsettling.  
Danzo was generally nice to Rin, but she had heard the stories, even her own sensei had warned her to be careful of him. Danzo didn't have the best reputation.  
That's why when she heard his name said out loud she froze.

"What is Lord Danzo's plan?"

"He's after Kakashi. He also believes that the Uchiha in Minato's team could be of use."

"He's been after Kakashi for a long time, but he doesn't seem to want to join the ANBU, let alone Root."

"Lord Danzo has a way of _convincing_ people to join his ranks."

"So, all those disappearances around the village, they come back Lord Danzo. Is he building some kind of army?"

"That is precisely what he is doing. We of the Root scout out shinobi with incredible skills and unique Jutsu, then we inform Lord Danzo of these individuals. Then, once we get his approval, we bring them in. Eventually when the time is right, and we have a sufficient amount of Root soldiers, our true mission will begin."

"Right, well I guess we should continue looking for Minato's team." The two Root ninja jumped away leaving Rin alone once again.

Rin clasped her hand around her mouth, literally catching her breath in her hands. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She was mortified and confused at the same time. The rumours about Danzo were correct, he was corrupt.  
He was building an army, but what for? What was his ultimate goal? And Kakashi, his life was in danger know. That's why Danzo was after Kakashi, to recruit him in whatever evil schemes he had planned.  
Thinking about Kakashi snapped Rin back to herself, she had to run back to her friends before Root did. She couldn't let them take her comrades. Rin crawled out of the hidden ditch and began sprinting back to the camp.

While making her back, thousands of thoughts raced through her mind.  
 _Danzo is building an army.  
He's after Kakashi and Obito.  
There are disappearances in the Leaf Village.  
_What was happening in the village? Rin pushed the thoughts into the back of her mind so that she could focus on finding her friends before Root did.  
Eventually, Rin made it back to her friends, Root hadn't found them yet. Before she had hoped Kakashi and Obito remained unconscious until she got back, now she was hoping they would wake, so that they could leave and come up with a plan.  
Rin knelt between them dropping her satchel of food down. She checked both their temperatures and breathing. They weren't catching fevers and their breathing was stable. They were making a recovery, Rin was only concerned with how long that would take.

"Didn't think we would find you?"

The voice caught Rin by surprise, her whole body tensed. Root had found her. She drew a kunai from her pouch and turned to see two Stone ninja in front of her. Rin now realising there were three enemies she had to watch out for, the Stone, Mist and her own Leaf Village shinobi.

"That was a nice disappearing act you performed back there. When we didn't find your friends bodies we suspected that you took them. You're a medical ninja. Those are quite rare these days, our ninja are hurt perhaps you can take a look at them." There was menace in his voice.

Rin threw her kunai straight up, it vanished amongst thick bushes.

"I think you missed us," The Stone ninja chuckled.

Dozens of kunai rained down from the canopy, speeding towards the Stone ninja they were surprised but they both jumped back. Rin made sure to set traps, she wouldn't leave her friends defenceless. Rin threw another kunai into the canopy a massive boulder began descending on top of her enemy. One ninja jumped at the boulder with a **Rock Fist** obliterating it in mid-air, Rin threw multiple shuriken at that ninja, however, the shuriken were deflected by shuriken thrown by the second ninja.  
Rin knew this would be loud, but she was left with no choice, Rin formed a hand sign and forced multiple paper bombs hidden underground to detonate. Yellow flashes and loud bangs razed the ground. She wished that had dealt with the Stone ninja. Unfortunately, it didn't. The two Stone ninja were still there, unharmed.

"If you won't come with us willingly, then we'll kill the two boys and drag you back with us."

The Stone ninja charged forward, Rin had no more traps left, she stood up and prepared herself to engage the ninja in direct combat.  
Something moved from behind her, Kakashi or Obito must have woken up. Before she could look, two thick black clouds raced past her blowing air into her face. The dark clouds engulfed the Stone ninja and they both fell to the ground, screaming horrifically.

"THEY'RE EATING ME! Argh!"

Rin noticed a bunch of small insects buzzing around her then a figure jumped in front of her. The person was wearing a black cloak and an ANBU mask. The mask resembled a human face, but the right cheek had several holes in it where tiny beetles were spilling out.  
Rin knew straight away that this was someone from the Leaf Village. What she didn't know was whether the ANBU was here to help. She was simultaneously relieved and concerned.

"You have done an excellent job, Rin Nohara. Now it is time to return back to the village. Kakashi and Obito will be treated with care."

Team Minato was being recalled back to the Leaf?

"Our mission isn't done the scroll hasn't been retrieved," Rin argued.

"There is no need to concern yourself with the scroll anymore, it is secure."

"Did Minato Sensei get the scroll back?" Rin asked.

The ANBU didn't reply. The two Stone ninja had stopped screaming and moving, they were dead. The cloud of insects departed from the corpses and flew back into their master's sleeve.

"You grab the Uchiha, I'll take Kakashi." Rin wanted to protest especially after what she had heard from the other Root members. However, Rin was in no position to argue, for now, her rescuer had come to help, that would have to satisfy her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

( _Near the border of the Land of Earth_ )

Minato launched himself from tree to tree his incredible speed making up for lost time. From time to time his thoughts drifted to his students, hoping they were alive and well. He knew Kakashi was a good leader and would make the right decisions to complete the mission. Minato just hoped that Kakashi wouldn't sacrifice the lives of his teammates to complete the mission.  
Despite Sakumo's tragedy, Minato had always respected Sakumo's choice, it was unfortunate that nobody else did.  
In times of war who comes out on top? Those who take lives or those who let lives be taken.  
Minato, The Yellow Flash of the Leaf, he was a hero to his village, praised endlessly, for what though?  
He would do whatever it took to protect his village even kill. That doesn't make him a hero. It just makes him a better killer then others.  
He hoped this war would end soon.

Minato followed arrows carved into trees giving him a path. Eventually, he passed two towering trees that were carved top to bottom in arrows, all pointing the same direction.  
Straight ahead.  
A trap? More like an invitation.  
Minato soared through the last bit of forestry and came bursting out of the trees into a wide-open area. Giant boulders were scattered around brown dead grass. Minato could tell he was near the Land of Earth.  
Without having to sense their presence he knew they were there. It was hard to miss. A small army of 30 enemy Stone ninja stood in Minato's way. They formed a line making sure that their enemy would not pass.  
Sayatsuchi walked to the front of her battalion. Daizo close behind her.

"I'm only giving you this one chance, turn back," Sayatsuchi said.

"Funny, I was also going to give you one chance. Step aside and let me pass."

"You're too late. The scroll would be near our village by now, it's lost to you. However, I'm not going to pass down the offer of killing the legendary Yellow Flash. Once you're taken out, the entire Leaf Village will be next. Men! Get ready!"

Minato drew two of his tri-point kunai one for each hand.

Sayatsuchi screamed, "Charge!"

The Stone ninja all howled out battle cries before charging at Minato. Sayatsuchi unrolled the whip around her waist and gave it a sharp flick, it went straight after Minato. The Yellow Flash jumped out of the way of the whip as it dug into the ground then charged at the Stone ninja himself. Minato saw two Stone ninja running at him, he threw his kunai forward waiting for it to go between his enemies. When it did Minato teleported to the kunai, caught it mid-flight and cut down the two ninja.  
They were dead before they could comprehend what happened.  
A dozen shuriken flew at Minato, he deflected all of them. A ninja engaged Minato with a katana. Minato blocked it with one of his kunai then pushed the man back, at the same time he threw his second kunai between the legs of the man, making it stick into the ground behind him. The ninja tried for another swipe only to slash air. Minato teleported to the kunai behind his enemy and brought that kunai scratching along the man's back.  
Minato felt the earth shift beneath him, so he leaped high into the air just in time to avoid a bunch of rock spikes shoot out the ground. Several kunai were launched at Minato while in the air, Minato created a Shadow Clone that took the kunai for him, the clone burst into white smoke.  
For a second everything went silent.  
Then from the cloud in the sky, multiple tri-point kunai stabbed the ground at various locations. Minato teleported to one kunai and slit the throat of an enemy before throwing the kunai at another ninja. Before the thrown kunai found its mark, Minato appeared at another kunai and stabbed the nearest ninja with it. Minato warped back to the thrown kunai and killed another Stone ninja dropping him to the ground.  
Daizo jumped in front of Minato trying to punch him, Minato ducked under the first punched then backflipped away from the second. A shadow fell over Minato, so he looked up to see a Stone ninja holding a long spear driving it down on him.  
The spear stabbed empty ground. Minato had teleported to a kunai that had lodged itself onto the side of a boulder. He stuck to the boulder horizontally for a second before pushing off and driving his kunai into the back of the spear holding shinobi. The ninja let out a deep sigh before falling over.  
Several Stone ninja had used their comrade's death to take the chance to surround Minato. Sayatsuchi's whip struck out with great speed and wrapped itself around Minato's wrist and he was pulled forwards. A Stone ninja used this chance and came at Minato from behind, but the Leaf ninja jumped up and slammed his feet into his enemy's chest pushing him back while propelling himself forward. Minato dodge-rolled forwards then kicked another enemy in the chin, before blocking a kick to his side with his forearm. He pushed his attacker's foot back. Another sharp tug at his wrist pulled him forwards.  
Minato grabbed the whip and pulled on it himself, Sayatsuchi didn't budge. It was a short-lived tug of war. Seeing an enemy charge at him from his peripheral vision Minato charged at Sayatsuchi with the whip still wrapped around his wrist.  
Sayatsuchi inhaled.

" **Earth Style: Rock Pistol!** " Sayatsuchi shot out small bullet sized rocks from her mouth aiming them at the Yellow Flash. Minato felt the wind tug at his hair as the rock bullets soared past him, none of them hit their mark. Minato got close to Sayatsuchi, he pulled a kunai out of the ground and stabbed her.  
She smiled, "Got you now."

The whip vanished from around his wrist and the Stone kunoichi's body was replaced with a log.

" **Earth Style: Mud Wall!** " A large rock wall emerged from the ground in front of Minato as he turned around he saw another rock wall moving towards him. The two mud walls collided. The Stone ninja hoped the walls crushed the Leaf ninja.  
Again, the battlefield went silent, until a loud _crack_ penetrated the silence. The mud walls exploded. Dirt and small rocks flew away. Some Stone ninja had to back away to avoid falling chunks of rock.  
Minato stood there unharmed. His **Rasengan** pulsating with dense chakra. Many Stone ninja flinched when they saw the glowing blue ball. The chakra spiralling around his palm like a tornado in a sphere. Instantly, Minato disappeared. He teleported to a tri-point kunai he set up earlier.  
A kunai that Daizo was standing in front of. The Yellow Flash had invaded Daizo's vision, blue light shadowing half his face. Minato slammed his **Rasengan** into Daizo's stomach. It was like dozens of burning knives had stabbed him and then started rotating inside his body. Blood immediately spilled from Daizo's mouth and before he knew it he was flying. Eventually, his body smashed into the ground, it must have been hundreds of meters away. His insides burned, it felt like jelly sloshed inside him.  
Despite his injury, Daizo pushed through the pain and got to his knees. He was a Stone ninja. His will was stronger than rock. He would finish this battle or die.

"I hate this, it is such a waste of life, but you're not giving me any other choice. I am sorry." Minato was already at Daizo's side, a **Flying Thunder God** formula was marked were Daizo had been hit. Minato held a kunai and plunged it into Daizo's gut.  
Never did Daizo imagine the speed and skill in which the Yellow Flash would fight with, he was truly a talent.  
Daizo fell backwards, dead.  
Minato withdrew his kunai and teleported back to the rest of his remaining enemies.  
Sayatsuchi's face raged with burning hatred.

One by one, enemy after enemy fell to Minato's superior skill. Vanishing and appearing instantaneously around the battlefield, none of the Stone ninja could keep up.  
At one-point Minato threw his kunai into the air and teleported to it to avoid a barrage of shuriken, then he threw the kunai at his attacker and teleported to it right before it hit and slashed the ninja down.  
Even with 30 enemy ninja, the small army was no match for the legendary Yellow Flash of the Leaf.  
There was only eight ninja left. Minato didn't want to waste time here any longer.  
Sayatsuchi swung her whip around like a helicopter propeller, aiming it at Minato. He ducked and dodged, span and flipped away. The whip couldn't touch him.  
Minato threw his kunai at an enemy of to his side, the ninja dodged it, but Minato was already at his side cutting him down.  
Sayatsuchi rolled her whip back up then slammed her hand on the ground.

" **Earth Style: Earthquake slam!** " The ground beneath Minato opened into a giant crevasse, without any ground to set foot on Minato fell into the fissure. The remaining Stone ninja edged closer to the hole but stopped when they heard a low whistling sound come towards them.  
A single tri-point kunai flew out of the crevasse and soared into the sky, for a second it looked as if the kunai was suspended in air, then it started to drop. Before it did, Minato teleported to the kunai in mid-air and grabbed it. Three other kunai already in his hands. He threw the four kunai at four enemy Stone ninja, the knives all landing just in front of their targets.  
Before any of the Stone ninja could react, Minato teleported to one of the kunai while three Minato shadow clones teleported to the other three kunai.  
Minato and his three clones all had the **Rasengan** spinning in their palms. They slammed their Jutsu into their unaware opponents, killing four enemy ninja at once.  
One of the Minato clones withdrew the kunai he teleported to from the ground and launched it at another enemy ninja, teleporting to it he killed that ninja.  
Now there was only two left.  
Sayatsuchi and another young Stone shinobi. The young ninja stood still, flabbergasted.

The three Minato clones charged at the remaining Stone ninja.  
Sayatsuchi unrolled her whip and flicked it at the ground, the tip of the whip pierced the ground and went underneath it. The whip then shot out of the ground like an uprooting plant. The whip smacked one Minato clone in the forehead, the clone disappeared. Sayatsuchi brought her whip back to herself, then unfurled her whip and thumped it along the ground. Concentrating her chakra into the whip, all nearby rocks and stones attached themselves to the whip. Sayatsuchi swung the whip and sent it straight ahead aiming for the last two Minato clones. The clones both dodged to the side. The rocks on the whip shot outwards like bullets of stone gunning the clones down and making them vanish in white clouds.  
The real Minato ran towards Sayatsuchi. The kunoichi retracted her whip then flung it out again striking a tri-point kunai stuck in the ground making it uproot and sending it spinning towards Minato. The Yellow Flash teleported and grabbed the spinning kunai nonchalantly. Minato picked up a few more kunai and launched them all at Sayatsuchi.  
After coiling the whip back up, Sayatsuchi formed the snake hand sign.

" **Earth Style: Mud Wall!** " The large wall of rock rose up to shield her from the kunai. Two kunai bounced off the wall and fell to the ground, however, one kunai stuck to the wall. Minato warped himself to the kunai using his chakra to stick to the wall horizontally. Minato created another clone and made it jump over the mud wall as a distraction.  
It worked.  
Minato saw the tip of his opponent's whip strike the clone as soon as it leaped over the wall. Minato, gripping the kunai, pushed off the wall and jumped out to the side. He saw that Sayatsuchi's whip was still outstretched, now was the time. He leaped at the kunoichi and slashed her body. Sayatsuchi dropped her weapon, before falling herself.  
Minato faced the last remaining Stone ninja, the young boy.

"29, I killed 29 ninja. Don't make it 30. Leave," Minato ordered. The young ninja didn't move, he gulped, fear in his eyes. "You're still young, are you a Chunin?"

"I-i was promoted a few days ago."

"I bet you have never seen anything like this. At least coming from one man." The young ninja said nothing. "Trust me, this isn't what I'm usually like. Get to know me and I'm actually quite a nice guy." Minato walked up to the boy extending his hand, "My name is Minato."

"I-I know. The Leaf's Yellow Flash. Y-you're not going to kill me?"

"I'll try to avoid it." Minato smiled.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING! KILL HIM!" Sayatsuchi's whip snaked itself around Minato's body and tightened. Minato tried to break free but couldn't. Sayatsuchi was standing behind him, whip in hand. Minato turned to look at Sayatsuchi's corpse only to see a lump of mud.  
"STOP TALKING TO HIM AND KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" Sayatsuchi screamed.

Minato looked back at the boy. The young ninja looked from Sayatsuchi to Minato, he hesitated for a moment. Then, he withdrew a katana from his back, the steel shaking in his hands.

"I'm sorry," The boy said to Minato.

"Me too," Minato replied.

The boy closed his eyes then swung his sword when he didn't feel anything connect he opened them back up. Minato had vanished.  
Sayatsuchi felt a strong grip grasp her whip hand before her own whip was wrapped around her throat. A kick to the back of her knees buckled her legs and she fell forwards.

"How?" Sayatsuchi choked out.

"It's not just my kunai that I can teleport to, anything I touch I can mark with my Jutsu formula, including your whip. Earlier, when you wrapped your whip around my wrist and I grabbed it for our brief tug-of-war, I marked your whip then." Minato answered. Sayatsuchi grunted with frustration.  
"You can't beat me. I killed all your men and we both know that I can kill a whole lot more. So, how about a deal?"

"A deal?"

"I let the two of you go. You go back to the Hidden Stone Village and convince anyone you must, the Tsuchikage, the village elders, convince them to give the scroll back to us. In return, no more bloodshed. We stop this fighting now." Minato looked up at the boy. "No more dead young." Minato released Sayatsuchi. She coughed and got her breath back.

"No deal." Sayatsuchi grabbed her whip reeled it back then let it fly forwards.  
But it didn't move.  
Something had caught it.  
Sayatsuchi turned to see the young boy holding the whip firmly in his hands.

"There's no point in this." The boy said. "He's right, we can't beat him, and we don't have to, our mission was just to stall. The scroll would already be at our village there's no point in us dying over this."  
Sayatsuchi froze, ideas flowing through her mind.

"Fine," Sayatsuchi said. The boy released the whip and Sayatsuchi coiled it around her waist. "I can't guarantee that I can get the scroll back to you, but I will see what I can do."

Minato knew that the boy spoke out of fear, not bravery, he didn't want to die. So, he convinced the kunoichi to retreat with him. It was a better outcome then killing them both. Minato didn't like killing it was just unfortunate that he was good at it.  
The young ninja supported Sayatsuchi and they both took off back to their village.  
Minato took a deep breath and sighed.

"I was wondering when you two were going to show up."

Two ANBU Black Ops members appeared behind Minato, bowing.

"You don't have to bow, I'm not the Hokage."

One member wore a human mask half of it blue, the other wore a rat mask.

"They won't give the scroll back." The rat masked ANBU said.

"No they won't, but they don't know that we already have it. You ANBU already got the scroll, didn't you? Or does Danzo have it now."

"How did you kn-"

"That scroll was under the protection of the ANBU and I know that Danzo handpicked the members himself. It would be next to impossible to break into our village as an outsider and steal the scroll. Plus, if I was sent out here there would be no need to send more ANBU. The Stone ninja don't even know that their being used, even the Mist don't understand, and the two villages have been turned on each other. Danzo doesn't take defeat lightly, he's a sore loser that way. So, I'm guessing the question to be asking isn't how did the Stone ninja steal the scroll? But, why did Danzo give the Stone ninja the scroll? Am I right?"

The Root ninja said nothing.

"Am I being recalled back to the Leaf Village?"

"Yes."

"My students?"

"They are already making their way back."

"Then let's go. Danzo has some explaining to do."

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Leaf Village_ )

Danzo followed closely behind by Tiger entered a large, dark room. Two coffin-like boxes were placed in the middle. There were seals binding the coffins.

"Tiger, let them out," Danzo ordered.

Tiger formed a hand sign, the seals burst into flames and disappeared after a few seconds of burning. The doors on both coffins fell forwards, a woman and man stepped out of their containers.

"Was the coffin really necessary?" The woman asked while she cracked her neck.

"My apologies, this was the safest and easiest way to get you both here without raising suspicion," Danzo replied. He walked up to the woman. "My name is Danzo."

"I'm Yuriko, this is my brother Yonshiro. Don't expect us to bow to you, we don't like you or this village. But, you have given us a second chance something our village wouldn't," Yuriko said. She wore a long dark blue robe with a white sash tied around her waist.  
A Hidden Mist headband was tied around her forehead.

"Yes, I've heard about the tragedy taking place in the Mist Village lately. Fear of shinobi with Kekkei Genkai has risen of late. Such a waste of talent and skill. However, I could use ninja like yourselves. When I found out about the two of you, I had to step in to help."

"Don't pretend to be our saviour. I know that you've been brainwashing your own ninja to follow your cause. You gonna do the same to us? I'm telling you now if you try there is gonna be bloodshed."

"No, there is no need. You have come here out of your own volition in the first place. Our deal still stands. You help me here and I help you take revenge on the Mist."

"You better keep your end of the deal."

"Of course, you can trust me. Now, may I see what I signed up for."

Yuriko rolled her eyes, "We're not monkey's." But, she clapped her hands, when she separated them a sharp icicle hovered between her palms.

"The Yuki clans Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, magnificent."

Yuriko dropped her hands and the icicle vanished. "Being on the run from our own ninja has left us pretty drained, can we stop with the talent show and get some food and rest?"

"Yes, Tiger show them to their quarters and then to the mess hall." Tiger nodded then the three of them left. Danzo was alone, although not for very long. "Snake, Spider." He called. The two Root ninja dropped out of the darkness from above and landed behind Danzo, bowing. "I want you to see to the other coffins, open them up and send whoever is inside to me."

"Yes, my lord." Both Root replied.

"Finally, my army is coming together," Danzo whispered to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

( _In the Hidden Stone Village_ )

Sayatsuchi entered the village still leaning on the shoulder of the younger ninja. Many other Stone ninja surrounded Sayatsuchi.

"Well done Sayatsuchi!"

"Good to see you still alive."

Sayatsuchi was greeted by another Stone Jonin.

"Kitsuchi!"

"You look well, considering who you fought."

"We lost."

"You're alive. At least you made it back. Daizo and the others?"

"Dead, all of them."

"Hamatsuchi?"

"I don't actually know. I sent him and few others to chase after the Yellow Flashes kids. I got reports they encountered Mist ninja. I haven't seen or heard from them since."

"Well, no point dwelling on all this loss. This won't be the only battle our villages have. Let's get you healed up."

Kitsuchi began walking away. Sayatsuchi and her partner followed.

"Are you forgetting the scroll? We have it. The next time our villages meet on the battlefield we will destroy them. That's the only solace I took when I retreated from the Yellow Flash. Otherwise, I would have died with everyone else."

Kitsuchi stopped walking. So too did the others.

"Sayatsuchi, the scroll never made it back to the village, neither did Ametsuchi. We waited, even sent out a search party. We didn't find anything."

"What! That's not right. Ametsuchi had a huge head start, there's no way anyone caught up to him."

"Even so, his not here. We failed. All those ninja who died did so for nothing." Kitsuchi continued walking. Sayatsuchi stood leaning on the young ninja, staring at Kitsuchi's back as he walked away.

* * *

( _Somewhere in the Land of Grass_ )

Ametsuchi squatted underneath a tree, shielding himself from the sun.

"Damn, it's hot out here. You Leaf ANBU sure take your time."

Monkey dropped down from a tree trunk landing in front of the Stone ninja.

"So, can I make you some Ramen? This scroll you gave us has some delicious Ramen recipes," Ametsuchi joked.

"You didn't think that we would actually give you the scroll with our villages information on it?" Monkey replied. "Lord Danzo thanks you for your distraction."

"I lied to my village about stealing a scroll full of the Leaf Villages Hiden Jutsu, just so the Stone Village would send a large number of Stone ninja into the Land of Grass, making it easier for Stone ninja with Kekkei Genkai to be smuggled out of my village. I would say that's a lot more than a distraction."

"I don't know why you betrayed your village and I don't care. Danzo trusts you because you've decided to help him. But, if at any time you turn against the Leaf I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Danzo doesn't trust me, he's putting up with me. At least you're loyal, the question is to who? Danzo or the Leaf Village?"

"My actions are always going to be in the best interest of the village. I'm returning home now, my mission is to bring you with me."

"No complaints here. Don't think the Stone Village will take me back once they find out what I did."

Ametsuchi dropped the scroll on the ground and ran alongside Monkey to the Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

( _In the Leaf Village_ )

 _Obito woke up on soft green grass, Rin was kneeling over him with a panicked expression._

 _"_ _Oh, Obito you're awake."_

 _"_ _Rin?"_

 _"_ _I'm so glad you're not hurt."_

 _"_ _Yeah, I feel fine."_

 _"_ _If you didn't come back I don't know how I could have lived with myself."_

 _"_ _Rin, I'm fine really, you don't have to panic."_

 _Rin leaned in quickly and brought her lips to Obito's, it was an intimate moment a moment that Obito wished would last an eternity. He wanted to say something but didn't want anything to stop. Obito had wished for this day for a long time._

Obito's eyes snapped open, bright lights blinding him, he winced.  
A dream?

"Obito, are you awake?"

"Rin?" Obito croaked out.

"I'm so glad you're not hurt."

"Yeah, I feel fine." Obito pushed himself upright. He was in a hospital room. A drip attached to his arm. He was in a hospital gown, his regular clothes folded neatly into a pile on a bedside table, his headband was also neatly folded and lay on top of his clothes.

"Where am I?" Obito asked. Suddenly his surroundings became clear. "Oh no, Have I been captured by the enemy? Is this a Genjutsu?" Obito turned to see Rin. "That's a good transformation Jutsu witch, but it won't fool me." Obito reached out, for what he didn't know but he reached out nonetheless. Rin grabbed his arm. A look of sorrow spread across her face.

"Obito, we're back home, this is the Leaf Village and no you are not under a Genjutsu. You were injured in battle. I tried to heal you as best I could, but we returned home to give you proper treatment." There was something in Rin's eyes, regret, guilt perhaps fear. Obito didn't know for sure, but he believed her, this was the real Rin. Looking at Rin brought the dream back to Obito's mind, he blushed, probably without realising it. Then flashes of images came to Obito. He remembered Kakashi fighting the Stone ninja. Remembered Kakashi using the Lightning Blade. Then Obito remembered the cut and the fall. He put his hand to his head. There was nothing

"I patched you up as best I could, then the medics took care of the healing."

"Hey, if it wasn't for you I would have gotten nothing. Thank you." Rin gave a slight smile. Obito turned to the side and looked out a window. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly, clouds drifted lazily through the air. Birds took flight from their nests. Obito turned to his other side only to be met with a dull wall filled with posters of medical safety. "Hey, where's Kakashi. Not that I'm complaining, after that mission we could use some time apart."  
It just clicked.  
"The mission! Why are we back in the village? What happened to the mission?"

"We were recalled back to the village. I was told that the scroll was retrieved and is now safely secure. Though, I haven't seen Minato sensei."

"I bet sensei beat some sense into the thieves and took the scroll back, serves them right to pick a fight against us Leaf ninja." Obito could see that something was off with Rin. "Are you alright Rin? You don't seem yourself."

"Obito, it's about Kakashi. Something is wron-"

The door to Obito's room was opened, cutting Rin off mid-sentence. Obito was surprised when an ANBU shinobi walked in. His mask was riddled with holes. Obito wondered why.

"Obito Uchiha, are you feeling rested?" The ANBU asked.

"Ah, yeah, more or less."

"Good, please get dressed and then come outside, then I will take you to see Kakashi Hatake."

"You always use people's full names? You ANBU guys are so formal." The cloaked man said nothing in response. "I'll be right out with you."  
The door was closed once again.  
Rin stayed still staring at the door.  
"Um, Rin, as close as we are I don't think you want to be here while I change." Obito joked.

Rin brought her voice to a whisper.  
"Obito listen to me. There is something going down in the village. Something big and bad. I don't know the bigger picture yet, so we must find out. Kakashi is in danger. The whole village is in danger. I believe that the ANBU are involved, well more precisely the Foundation. We have to find Kakashi and then find Minato sensei." Panic filled Rin's voice and face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Obito asked.

"I can't say it out loud."

"You know Morse Code?" Rin gave him a stern look. "Sorry. Wait, I've got an idea. Look me in the eye." Rin looked confused. "Trust me just do it."  
Rin made eye contact.  
Obito activated his Sharingan.  
The two of them were standing in a black space, empty of everything.

"Genjutsu! Good idea Obito."

"Now you can speak freely."

Rin told him everything about her scavenging in the woods. How she overheard the Foundation ninja discussing Danzo's plan to create an army. How Kakashi was on Danzo's list of recruitment. How Obito was also a potential ninja to be used. That she found it suspicious that the Foundation had come to recall Team Minato back to the village despite the mission not being over.

"You think Kakashi is already with Danzo?" Obito asked.

"I do, and I'm worried about what they're going to do to him."

"Well, then I guess we better go rescue him."

"We should find Minato sensei first."

"We don't know if his in the village and by the sound of it we shouldn't waste time. Plus, I can't wait to see the look on Kakashi's face when I save him for once." Rin wanted to say something else but Obito continued talking. "Rin how many times has Kakashi saved the both of us? Now it's time to return the favour. We will succeed. We'll do this together, as a team."

Rin smiled "Yeah, You're right. First, we have to get out of the Hospital without alerting the ANBU."

Obito and Rin left the Genjutsu and were back in the hospital room.

"Obito Uchiha! Are you ready?" Called the ANBU standing outside the door.

"Just a second." Obito changed quickly, then pointed to the window. Rin nodded her head.  
Obito noticed a fly buzzing around his room.  
Rin silently opened the window and both ninja jumped outside.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 _(ANBU Black Ops Headquarters.)_

"What were you hoping to get out of this," Minato interrogated.

Minato stood across from Danzo. The leader of Root had a reputation for plotting and backstabbing, still, in his own twisted way, he fought for the protection of the village. However, with the evidence stacked against him, Danzo had to answer for his actions and Minato wanted to do it without concerning the Hokage. He thought it would be better if he cleaned this mess up before it got truly out of hand.  
It was probably too late for that now.

"Everything I do is for the sake of the village. I hear the rumours spread about myself. Remember, Minato, that I too am a ninja of the Leaf and will defend it at all costs," Danzo replied.

Both Minato and Danzo were in a large dark room. Wall sconces burned with fire to provide minimal illumination. The ceiling shadows were hiding dozens of Root members. Danzo predicted that Minato already knew they were hiding. Danzo knew the Root members wouldn't intimidate Minato, they were there just in case Minato tried anything. Not that they could stand against the Yellow Flash. Danzo was not planning on fighting.

He already had a plan in case things escalated.

"That may be true, but the fact of the matter is you cannot be trusted, your history speaks for itself. You give away confidential information to enemy villages." Minato said.

"But I didn't give the information away it's safe and sound. You already figured that out. Isn't that why you're here?"

"I'm here to find out what you're up too and put an end to it. Lord Hokage doesn't need to concern himself with this. I am enough to stop you."

"You're going to stop me from protecting and ensuring the safety of the village, now who is sounding like the traitor."

"Cut the crap Danzo, that's not what you're doing."

"Minato, the other villages look at us and think we are weak. Even with you here, it is not enough. The legendary Sannin are no more with Orochimaru having gone rogue. Tsunade has left the village as well and Jiraiya alone is not enough to protect this village. The passing of the White Fang has been detrimental to our villages military power. On top of that, we have a Hokage who sits on his hands and turns his attention away from the danger that is stemming from his own home."

"Danger that your creating."

"The Uchiha are a mighty clan, but they need to be controlled. They plot against all our backs, sick and tired of their constant mistreatment. You should be careful Minato, your own student Obito Uchiha may very well plant a kunai in your back one day. Nothing drives the Uchiha more than their sense of pride. It's not just the Uchiha either, the Hyuga's main and side branches continue to quarrel with each other. Don't you understand this village is in turmoil, yet nobody sees it but me? I will not allow the other villages to see our weakness."

"So what? You're building your own private army?" Minato asked.

"How did you find out about that?" Danzo asked

"You just told me," Danzo grunted in frustration. "So this is what it's about. It wasn't enough to lead the enemy away from their own villages. You were trying to get me out of the village as well."

"You have a sharp eye and keen senses Minato. Perhaps too sharp and too keen for your own good. I will gather the most powerful ninja from across the nations and use them to dominate this village first then all the others. Ninja with the most unique Jutsu will serve under my command."

"Do you think they will stay under your command forever? These Shinobi your recruiting probably hate this village with all their heart, you think they care what happens to the Leaf?"

"They do care because I have made promises with them all. If this village falls so do they. Besides, I picked the ninja carefully, they all have one similar quality. They are all broken. Ninja who have been outcasted and ostracized by their own village. Hunted down because of their abilities. Used as weapons, forsaken as human beings. Left on the streets without recognition. I am giving their lives meaning by letting them help me, bringing them into something that is bigger than themselves."

Minato was livid. His face seething with anger.

"That's sick. Exploiting the tragedies of others for your own gain. Manipulating and twisting their minds. I won't allow that to happen. I'm putting an end to this now." Minato stated.

From the shadows, a chain came whipping forwards hoping to tie Minato up. Minato flung his arm out and one of his tri-point kunai came soaring out of his sleeve. The kunai's point struck the middle of one of the links of the chain and pinned the chain to the wall.

Danzo raised his arm, "That's enough. Minato you will stand down."

"Make me." Minato began walking towards Danzo.

Danzo smiled. "My boy, isn't there something you're missing here?"

Minato stopped, confused.

Danzo continued. "If I spent so much effort into getting you out of the village to get the other ninja inside the Leaf, why would I recall you back? Hesitation and weakness will not be allowed in my army. Even from someone as important as you."

"You speak as if I'm going to join you."

"Remember Minato, I pray on the weaknesses of ninja to bring them to my side. That includes yours." Danzo waved his arm. "Bring him in."

Kakashi came walking into the room and made his way to Danzo's side. Minato knew straight away that something was wrong. Kakashi's eyes were drooping, his body slouched, his face was blank, no emotion nor movement. Danzo had done something to him and Minato was going to make him pay.

Danzo noticed the rise in Minato's chakra and swiftly pulled out a kunai and held it to Kakashi's throat. Kakashi didn't flinch, in fact, he didn't move at all.

"Now, now, Minato remember what I said before. Stand down. Or he dies."

* * *

( _The Leaf Village_ )

Obito and Rin leaped from rooftop to rooftop with haste. The sun was setting, painting the sky with orange and purple. The streets were bustling with people entering restaurants and bars. Groups of friends and families walked leisurely around the village.  
Not a care in the world.  
Not knowing what was about to take place inside their own home.

"Obito do you have a plan?" Rin asked.

"Not really. We'll go to the headquarters of the ANBU. See if Kakashi is there and if he is we bust him out."

"That doesn't sound like a good plan."

"That's because Kakashi was always the plan guy. I usually just wing it."

Obito and Rin stopped on a rooftop overlooking a small house near the outskirts of the village.

"It's a small place, but the house is just a decoy the actual HQ is all underground," Obito said. "Still, it's kinda quiet out here. I was expecting there to be guards or something. Not sure if the lack of guards is a blessing for us or a trap."

Obito jumped at the house he was going to break into and landed on the wall, sticking to it. He looked inside through a nearby window. After double checking, the corridor inside he gestured to Rin to follow. Rin landed next to Obito sticking to the wall as well. Obito carefully and quietly opened the window and went inside along with Rin.  
The hall was empty.  
Obito peaked around a corner, seeing that it was empty both ninja moved forwards.

"There has to be a secret entrance to get underground," Obito whispered.

They started to open doors hoping to find an entrance. Most of the rooms were storage, housing spare robes, and masks, scrolls, and boxes with unknown contents.  
Eventually, Obito and Rin came across another empty corridor only this time a large oaken door was at the end.

"Looks promising," Rin said.

They ran to the door. Obito gripped a handle and opened it. The door opened to a blank wall.

"What the hell is this?" Obito said frustrated. He touched the wall. Nothing happened, it was an ordinary wall.

"Wait, Obito, look at this." Rin closed the door again and pointed at the carvings that decorated the door. The door was segmented into blocks each block had a carving of an animal. The first block had a tiger, the second a snake, the third a monkey, the pattern continued all the way down to the bottom. "We have to make the hand signs that are inscribed on the door, that's how we get through."

"Alright, you ready?" Obito asked.

"Yes!" Rin replied.

"I wouldn't try that." The new voice came from behind. The young ninja panicked and turned around. A woman was standing there one hand on her hip. She was dressed in a dark blue robe with a white sash tied around her waist.

"Umm, we were looking for the bathroom," Obito blurted out.

"Hey, you don't have to make up excuses, it's not my place to tell you what to do. It's your village. Although in saying that, I can't let you go through there."

Rin's face twisted in horror. "Obito! Her headband!"

Obito had now paid enough attention to see that the woman wore a Hidden Mist headband.

"Whoa! You're from the Hidden Mist? How did you get in here? You infiltrated our village, huh. Are you trying to steal secret information about the village? Don't tell me you're after the scroll as well," Obito interrogated.

"You ask a lot of questions. First, we're not infiltrators, more like honoured guests," Answered Yuriko.

"What do you mean 'we're'?'" Rin questioned. As if on cue another man walked into the corridor and stood behind Yuriko. Both Obito and Rin noticed the Mist headband wrapped around his forehead. The brother Yonshiro had short, spiky, navy blue hair, his fringe was long and covered the top half of his eyes.

"There's two of you it's only fair there's two of us," Yuriko said.

"You're here for Danzo's army, aren't you?" Rin asked.

Yuriko's face twitched slightly at that question. She turned to glance at her brother, then faced the young ninja again.

"Girly, I'm afraid that you know too much. I can't let you leave here now, that goes for both of you."

Obito stood in front of Rin.

"You'll have to go through me," said Obito.

Yuriko charged at Obito, swinging her fist at him. Obito used his palm to push her punch downwards, then he did a front flip, hoping to smash his heel into the back of her head. At the last second, Yuriko's other hand caught Obito's foot around the ankle and she threw him overhead into the wall on the other side of the corridor. Obito spun through the air, passing Yonshiro and finally, his back slammed into the wall and he fell to the ground. Yuriko continued towards Rin.  
Rin focused her chakra into her hands, then made a lunge at her enemy. Yuriko went to block the Jutsu with her arm then pulled her hand away at the last second then leaped backwards.

"Either that was the Hyuga's Gentle Fist or medical ninjutsu. Neither of them is a Jutsu that I want striking me." Yuriko said.

Obito stood up and charged again. Yuriko ran at Rin, Rin thrust her arm forwards. Yuriko jumped on the wall and ran on it, she passed Rin, jumped off the wall then grabbed Rin by the back of her neck. She lifted Rin off the ground and tossed her at Obito, they crashed into each other and both tumbled to the ground.  
" **Water Style: Water Wall!** " Yuriko expelled a wave of water that washed away Obito and Rin down the corridor and slammed them both into the wall. Only this time the young ninja felt a deep chill pierce their bodies as something hard and strong pressed them up against the wall.  
Obito opened his wet eyes to see a literal sea of ice. All the water from the enemies Jutsu was frozen. Obito and Rin were both encapsulated in ice except for their faces.  
Yonshiro had stuck himself to the ceiling.

"This is an ice style Kekkei Genkai! You must be members of the Yuki clan of the Mist." Rin said.

"You've done your homework," Yuriko said. "But, I can't take back what I said, you're both going to die."

Yuriko stepped on the ice and started making her way to the young ninja. However, her feet started to sink into the ice. The ice was growing, expanding and it encased Yuriko's legs. The ice was crawling its way up to take over its own conjurer. On the ceiling, Yonshiro's feet started to phase into the wall. He let out a shriek.

"Genjutsu!?" Yuriko said in surprise.

Obito saw movement from his peripheral vision. Another young ninja stood before him, wearing a brown vest. Chakra blades in each of his arms.

"You two are in a pickle."

"Asuma?" Obito yelled.

"We saw you running in a hurry on the rooftops from the ground, thought something might be up so we came to help. We have to hurry, this Genjutsu isn't going to last much longer."

Asuma turned around and punched the ice that was encasing Obito. The ice shattered and Obito was set free. Asuma then freed Rin. A young girl with long brown hair and red eyes phased into existence next to Rin.

"Come on, let's go." The young girl said.

"Kurenai!" Rin exclaimed.

"Hold it brat's." Screamed Yuriko, who had dispelled the Genjutsu. Her feet no longer trapped in her own ice. Yonshiro's feet were also stuck to the wall normally now.

Asuma, Obito, Rin, and Kurenai all jumped out of the nearest window, shattering it as they escaped.

Yuriko was about to go after them until an ANBU member wearing a hole-riddled mask appeared from a burst of white smoke.

"Leave them to us," The ANBU said. "Lord Danzo has given you and your brother your own mission. You are to take this map," The ANBU handed over a map to the Mist ninja. "Make your way to the Leaf's weapon storage and guard it. Make sure no Leaf shinobi are allowed inside. Without their weapons, the ninja will be weakened. Wait there until further notice."

"What about the Leaf kids?"

"They are from our village we will dispose of them."

Two more ANBU members showed up. Enshi Uchiha, wearing his half blue mask and Hoza Hyuga, wearing his praying mantis mask. Both men followed the young ninja out the window.

"It is time, Lord Danzo's plan is finally being put into action."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

( _In the Leaf Village_ )

The ninja zipped along the rooftops, heading away from the Foundation's HQ. Now it was completely night-time.

"That was close," Obito said.

In the distance a loud bang sounded, followed by a large pillar of flame. A second explosion appeared a few seconds later.

"Danzo's plan must be starting," Rin said.

"What plan?" Asuma asked.

Obito and Rin explained to Asuma and Kurenai what they had discovered during their mission to retrieve the scroll and about Danzo building his own army.

"I've heard rumours about what Danzo was capable of, but I never thought he would take it this far," Kurenai said.

"Yeah, well, now you have to believe it," Obito replied.

From behind Obito heard a sharpness cutting through the air, he turned his head to see a kunai flying straight at him. On instinct, he activated his Sharingan, the kunai was centimetres from his head. Obito's head seemed to move on its own, it moved slightly to the side avoiding the kunai with a hair's breadth. Obito noticed the two Foundation members following him.

"We got company," Obito called out.

"Where are we going?" Asuma asked.

"The Uchiha Police Force. Maybe we can get some help there." Obito put his hands in his weapon pouch. "You guys keep going, I'm going to stall." The four-ninja jumped across the street from one rooftop to another. When Obito landed on the roof he dodged roll forwards and positioned himself to face his pursuers. He threw several shuriken with wires attached to them. The mantis masked man turned and rolled in mid-air to avoid the shuriken, Obito could read his movements and bent the shuriken around him to counter his movements. The blue masked man didn't seem phased. He threw his own shuriken which deflected Obito's shuriken, then he threw some more shuriken to cut the wires that surrounded his partner. Obito's wired shuriken fell to the ground. "What!? How did he counter the **Sharingan Windmill Triple Attack**? The only people who can counter that Jutsu are those who have a Sharin- Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

Mantis landed on the roof and used the Gentle Fist to strike Obito. The Uchiha could read his movements and the flow of his chakra. Obito dodged each attack. Then made a hasty retreat to join his friends.

Obito caught up with the others but so too did their pursuers. The young ninja tried to take shortcuts through small streets, jumping around and hiding between buildings. However, no matter where they went the Foundation members found them. It was like they could see through walls.

Eventually, Obito, Rin, Asuma, and Kurenai made it to the front of the Uchiha Police Force. To their surprise, the building looked empty.

"Where is everyone?" Obito exclaimed.

The Foundation had caught up. Without a word, Mantis ran forwards. Asuma engaged him by swinging his knuckle-buster equipped fist at him. Mantis slapped his fist away with his palm then slammed his other palm into Asuma's chest. Asuma crumbled to the floor.

Kurenai had vanished. A large tree began to form behind the other masked man. The tree's branches wrapped around him and stopped him from moving. Kurenai's torso and arms appeared out the tree, she was holding a kunai.

"Wait, Kurenai! He's an Uchiha, Genjutsu of that level will never work on him." Obito yelled.

In a split second, Kurenai found herself wrapped up in her own Genjutsu. The masked man stood in front of the tree holding her kunai. Without hesitation, he stabbed Kurenai in the stomach, blood spilled from her mouth. The tree disappeared, and she fell to the ground.

"Kurenai, NO!" Rin screamed.

Mantis used the distraction as his time to advance. He ran towards the Uchiha boy focusing his chakra into his hands using the Gentle Fist, one strike to the heart would kill the boy. He swung his palm at Obito.  
His mission was complete….

Until a hand grabbed his wrist with a firm grip.

Mantis' palm was stopped just short of its target. It took a second for Obito to realise what had happened.

"Whoa, that was close. Thanks for the save mister," Obito said.

A man was standing next to Obito, holding onto his enemy's wrist. He was wearing a light green kimono with the Uchiha symbol on its back.

"Danzo has messed with my clan for the last time."

Obito realised who his saviour was.

"Ah! Lord Fugaku, sir," Obito thought back to his earlier comment. "Forgive me for calling you, mister. I didn't know it was you."

"Obito! Be quiet." Fugaku said.  
Obito fell silent instantly.

Mantis struggled to free himself from Fugaku's grip.

"You're not going anywhere." Obito could sense seething anger coming from Fugaku. The Uchiha clan leader's chakra could be felt like a blazing fire.  
Mantis used his free palm to strike at Fugaku's face. Fugaku pulled on Mantis' wrist, drawing him slightly closer, then he used his elbow to block Mantis' attack, then he bent Mantis' hand breaking his wrist. Mantis' let out a strong groan. Fugaku quickly ripped off Mantis' mask and activated his Sharingan placing Mantis in a Genjutsu that made him fall to the ground unconscious.  
"Hoza Hyuga? Hiashi and I have something in common."

"Lord Fugaku, what do you mean?"

"Hoza Hyuga and Enshi Uchiha were sent on a mission together, however, they were captured by the Hidden Mist. We received word from Danzo that they had died. You can never trust the filth that comes from that man's mouth." Fugaku was staring at the second Foundation member. "Enshi! What have they done to you?" Enshi remained silent. "Danzo will suffer dearly for messing with my clan!"

Enshi charged, withdrawing a kunai and throwing it. Fugaku casually caught it.

"Obito! Kunai!" Fugaku demanded.

Obito quickly threw a kunai straight at Enshi, Fugaku then threw his. The second kunai hit the first one on an angle which changed its trajectory. The kunai went from flying straight to flying downwards, pinning Enshi's Foundation cloak to the ground. The cloak tore all along the right side and it made Enshi stumble. Taking the opening Fugaku moved with incredible speed. He appeared in front of Enshi and delivered a powerful punch to Enshi's stomach. Enshi lurched forward, then he too fell down, unconscious.  
"Obito, take Enshi and Hoza inside the police station. Rin, start medical procedures for Asuma and Kurenai."

An explosion sounded off in the far distance.

Rin knelt by Kurenai's side and began pouring healing chakra into her wound. Rin put her head to Kurenai's chest and could hear her heartbeat. Rin let out a sigh of relief.  
Fugaku had Obito and Rin take shelter within the police station with the four-injured shinobi. After Rin stabilized Kurenai, she moved onto Asuma healing the muscles in his chest which were struck by Hoza's Gentle Fist. Then after Asuma, she started to mend Hoza's broken wrist.

"Lord Fugaku, how did you know Danzo was up to something?" Obito asked.

"Taking in the full situation it should've been obvious."

Obito didn't see how it was so obvious. "The scroll that team Minato was sent to retrieve was being guarded by the ANBU. While the ANBU take orders directly from the Hokage, there are few among the ANBU that are still loyal to Danzo, mostly those affiliated with the Foundation. Not only was the scroll 'stolen' from a room heavily guarded by ANBU, but the protective barrier that surrounds the village didn't alert anyone to the intruder's presence. The only people who can bypass the barrier safely are the Leaf's ANBU and Danzo. Take all that into consideration and the answer is clear. Danzo has betrayed us. If that wasn't totally unforgiving, he brainwashed members of several clans to do his bidding including the Uchiha. That I can never forgive."

"What do we do now?"

"You two must go and find Minato. He should be able to confront Danzo."

"What about you?"

"I've dispatched Uchiha police officers around the village to deal with the invaders and help the villagers to safety. In an invasion like this Danzo will be likely to target crucial buildings within the village to cripple our power. This building could be a target as well, so I will stay here to defend it."

"Alone!?"

"Don't forget who you're talking to Obito."

"Of course, my lord."

Rin turned to Obito.

"Obito don't forget Kakashi."

"I know Rin, but finding Minato sensei is more important. You know Kakashi would say the same thing. Who knows maybe Kakashi has already found Minato sensei and are battling together."

Obito hated having to choose between his teammate and his sensei. Yet, he knew the more sensible option, but it didn't make it any easier.

"You two should head off," Fugaku stated.

"Yes sir," Obito replied.

"But before you go, I suggest you take these, to make it somewhat easier."

* * *

( _Edge of the Leaf Village_ )

Three Leaf ninja stood on a sentry tower overlooking the vast forest of the Land of Fire. One of the ninja left the tower to report attacks on the east side of the village to the Hokage.

The tower door opened, and Monkey walked inside.

"ANBU! Reinforcements, thank god."

Ametsuchi walked into the room shortly after Monkey.

"Hey! Be careful there's an intruder behind you."

Monkey pulled a kunai from his sleeve and stabbed one of the Leaf ninja. Then he turned quickly punched the second ninja in the face, then the stomach, then grabbed the ninja's neck and broke it. Both Leaf ninja fell to the floor.

A third Leaf ninja had burst into the room from another door on the other side of the room. When he saw the two dead ninja and the Stone ninja his face twisted in horror.

"The rumours are true the Foundation has betrayed us."

Ametsuchi made the snake hand sign and started to gather chakra in his hand. The chakra formed into a bright orange orb.

" **Explosion Style: Explosive Orb!** " Ametsuchi shot the burning orb at the Leaf ninja, upon impact the orb exploded instantly killing the leaf ninja.

"So, you do have a Kekkai Genkai," Monkey said.

"Of course, that's why Danzo wants me," Ametsuchi replied. The Stone ninja looked out of the window of the sentry tower and observed the Leaf Village.  
"Time to do some damage."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

( _Foundation HQ_ )

Minato was tied up to a chair. His hands and feet were bound. A circle of Jutsu formula had been drawn on the ground. A barrier preventing Minato from escaping. In the dark room he was being held there were sealing tags stuck to the wall, a second barrier to trap Minato inside, Danzo was not taking any chances.

"It's finally time for you to become one of my soldiers Minato," Danzo said. "Think of all the good you're going to accomplish while under my command. This village will become the most powerful village in all the lands. However, one step at a time. I need to become Hokage before anything else. So, you and I are going to pay Hiruzen a visit."

The door to the room opened. One Foundation member walked in. He wore a mask, half of it painted blue. He joined other followers of Danzo inside the room. Tiger, Spider, Snake, Tazusa Kurama, wearing a bird mask. Inoshin Yamanaka, wearing his mammoth mask. Another member wearing a mask with two vertical red lines under the eyeholes. There was someone else who was in the corner, hiding in the shadows, wearing a dog mask. He breathed heavily as if he was growling.  
"Enshi, nice of you to join us." Danzo noticed the ripped cloak. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing of importance sir, it happened when I killed Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara."

"YOU BASTARD!" Minato screamed.

Danzo smiled. "You should be glad, I told you before about the Uchiha, how they longed for power. I did you a favour, killing him before he kills you."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Minato raged. His chakra spiked immensely. However, one of the barriers Minato was in suppressed his chakra heavily, he couldn't do anything, let alone move.

"When I had clan members abducted, I masked them and gave them cloaks so that nobody would know it was them. I protected their identities. Although, it was done mostly so that no one would know it was them, so they couldn't try to be saved. However, for you Minato, I won't be hiding your face. I want everybody to see you slaughter your own comrades. I want to make you the ultimate traitor. I can already see the look on Hiruzen's face when you confront and kill him. The pain in Hiruzen's eyes will be pleasant, for me anyway. Mammoth time to start."

Mammoth walked in front of Minato and formed the Yamanaka clans, unique hand sign, aiming at Minato's head.

" **Ninja Art: Memory Construction Jutsu!** "

Minato tensed his body. However, Mammoth did as well. Minato was fighting back against the Jutsu. Holding on to his memories, keeping them in a safe place. Memories of Kushina, of his students, of the Hokage. He held on them tightly.  
Minato had received special training to repel mental Jutsu with other members of the Yamanaka clan. But this Jutsu was different, it wasn't a simple Mind Transfer Jutsu, this technique was a lot more powerful and complex.

Danzo frowned. "What's taking so long Mammoth?"

"Forgive me, sir, he is fighting back against my Jutsu, but I've just about penetrated his memories. He is mine." Mammoth reassured.

Minato could feel his memories being snatched away, he had failed. Each memory was being grabbed and thrown into a small recess in the very deep of his subconscious. Now a flood of other memories came into his mind. Memories of Danzo and the Foundation and how at home and comfortable he felt being with them. Minato finally relaxed.

"Excellent Mammoth. Minato who do you serve?" Danzo asked.

"I live to serve you, Lord Danzo!" Danzo grinned from ear to ear.

"Of course you do. Still, I'm not taking chances. Zata Uchiha, come here." Danzo motioned for the Foundation member whose mask had two red lines running down the eyeholes to join him. "Use your Sharingan to trap him in a Genjutsu. Seeing as he started to resist the memory Jutsu I need to make sure that he will never regain his personality. In addition to replacing his memories adding a layer of Genjutsu on top of that will solidify his complacency."

"Lord Danzo, will that work?" Asked the man wearing the half blue mask.

"Yes, it will. Even with his memories replaced, he remains conscious and his senses still belong to him. Genjutsu confounds the senses, it will still take effect."

"In that case, let me trap him in a Genjutsu. While his elemental Jutsu is stronger than mine his Sharingan is not. While his are still in stage 2, mine are in stage 3."

"Is that true Zata?"

"Yes sir, Enshi's Sharingan is more potent than mine," Zata said.

"Fine," Danzo said. "Enshi place Minato under a Genjutsu and let's get on with our mission. Snake! Spider! Go gather and prepare the others."

Snake and Spider left the room.

The half blue masked man stepped in front of Minato. The Yellow Flash looked defeated, his body slouched, his head was hanging down and his eyebrows were covered in beads of sweat.

"Yellow Flash, it's time for you to begin your true mission." The Foundation member said. He moved his mask slightly revealing one of his Sharingan. "Look at me!" He said forcefully. Minato's eyes moved upwards sluggishly.  
He saw the Sharingan and was trapped in a Genjutsu.

* * *

( _Near the Hokage Office_ )

Danzo, surrounded by his own Root ninja and other ninja from the various Hidden Villages, made their way to the office of the 3rd Hokage. They marched, almost in unison. Minato and Kakashi walked right alongside Danzo.

Anyone who stood in their way was taken out. Word had spread about Danzo's coup d'état, but the whole village was under attack, Danzo made sure there was enough going on to draw the majority of the attention away from himself.

However, he was still prone to the casual attack. Two leaf ninja charged at Danzo angrily. Snake paralysed them with his **Shadow Possession Jutsu** , while Spider killed them with kunai. Danzo scoffed at their attempt.  
That was the kind of foolishness that he wanted to eradicate from the village, he wanted the Leaf's ninja to be strong. To dominate all battles.

Danzo and his small army had made their way to the front of the Hokage's office. Multiple ANBU loyal to the 3rd were posted around the building. These ANBU were wearing the traditional Armour. While Danzo's were wrapped in black cloaks.

The ANBU converged on Danzo's location.

"We won't let you get near Lord Hokage traitor!" The ANBU bellowed.

"We'll see about that," Danzo replied. Several ANBU threw a barrage of explosive kunai at Danzo.  
He was not phased.

"Kaitsuchi!" Danzo yelled.

A ninja from the Stone village walked in front of the oncoming kunai. He had a long, bushy, beard that covered the lower half of his face. He slammed his palm to the ground.

" **Lava Style: Obsidian Wall!** "

Lava erupted from the ground and formed a wall. Instantly the lava started to cool, and it transformed into a wall of black rock. The explosive kunai pinned the wall and a second later, they all detonated. A large explosion shook the ground and sent blazing fire soaring in all directions. However, the wall wasn't damaged in the slightest. Danzo smiled.  
Kaitsuchi slammed both of his palms onto the ground this time.

" **Lava Style: Obsidian Cave!** "

The entire area around Kaitsuchi and the ANBU, including the ground and all nearby walls, were transformed into obsidian. Next giant obsidian spikes erupted from the ground. Multiple stalagmites of black rock stabbed the ANBU ninja, puncturing through their chest and stomachs. Other pillars of obsidian smashed through walls and tumbled down entire trees. The only thing that could be seen was obsidian. The area had been transformed into a literal obsidian cave.

There were several ANBU that survived the Jutsu. One of them was forming hand signs quickly.

" **Lightning Style: Lightning Fang!** " The ANBU charged his hands with electricity then shot out two beams of lightning at Kaitsuchi.

A ninja from the Hidden Cloud village stepped forwards. He wore the traditional outfit for Cloud ninja. He had a stocky build and both of his shoulders had strange markings on them. He held out both his hands and seemingly caught the two lightning bolts. Lightning crackled up his hands, passing from his forearms until the lightning was absorbed by the tattoos on his shoulders. The tattoos glowed brightly, burning with chakra.

"You can have those back," The Cloud ninja said.

The Cloud shinobi extended his hands and lightning shot out of the tattoos, passed down his arms and burst out of his own hands. The ANBU who shot the lightning out first was electrocuted by his own Jutsu upon impact.

Another ANBU threw a shuriken at the attacking group, then made some hand signs.

" **Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " The one shuriken instantly became dozens.

"Get out of my way!" Growled a large man from the sand village. He pushed his way forward, going so far as to grab the cloud ninja by the back of his flak jacket and pulling him back.

" **Magnet Style: Positive Barrier.** "

The dozen shuriken spun rapidly until they got to a certain point where the shuriken suddenly stopped spinning and stopped moving altogether. They were suspended in mid-air.

"It's a magnetic barrier that prevents any type of metal from passing through. You Leaf ninja don't pose a threat at all." The Sand ninja grumbled. " **Magnet Style: Negative Repulsion.** "

The shuriken were instantly pushed back to their owner, showering him in steel and killing him along with the remaining ANBU.

"Good work everyone," Danzo called out.

"These punks aren't worth my time. When do I get a real opponent?" The Sand ninja yelled.

"Patience, Rogaki. You will find a worthy opponent." Danzo said.

Rogaki eyed Minato. "Give me a shot at the Yellow Flash."

Danzo smiled. "It would be a quick fight, not in your favour." Danzo walked in front of his group, Minato and Kakashi slouching behind.

Danzo walked calmly into the Hokage's office first floor. He looked to the stairs.

"Snake! Spider! Zata! You three stay here."

Danzo made his way up the stairs into a corridor. A Leaf ninja charged at him.

"Kakashi!" Danzo called.

Kakashi lunged forward then slid on the floor tripping the ninja and making him tumbled to the floor face first. Kakashi pulled out his sabre and stabbed the man in the back.

Danzo eventually made his way to the door leading into the Hokage's office. He pointed to the Cloud ninja, "Ariko!" then he pointed at the Stone ninja, "Kaitsuchi! You two will stay out here and guard the door."

"Whatever," Kaitsuchi replied. Ariko said nothing.

Danzo inhaled strongly then exhaled calmly. He opened the door and let himself in. Hiruzen was standing at the window, watching the tragedy unfolding in his home. His back turned. Outside dozens of structure's were on fire, smoke was rising and gathering in the sky. Explosions could be heard in the distance along with a symphony of screaming.

"Greetings Hiruzen," Danzo teased.

Hiruzen didn't turn. "All the pain that you have delivered to this village I am going to inflict back onto you. Mark my words Danzo, you will beg for death once I am finished with you."

"You can't threaten me anymore Hiruzen. Besides, you're right. I would beg for death. After seeing how weak you have made the Leaf, I can no longer call this dump home. I would rather die, then see this village be destroyed, which is why I will do anything to make sure that never happens. All I'm doing is a little renovation. This is all on you. Also, at this point, you can no longer kill me. If it was one against one maybe, but now you're outmatched."

"You think you're brainwashed puppets are enough to stop me! You call me weak, yet your hypocrisy is ever present in this very situation. YOU ARE TOO WEAK TO FACE ME YOURSELF!" Hiruzen turned around to face Danzo. His face twisted in horror as he did.  
Hiruzen didn't care about the foreign ninja from other villages that Danzo had collected, nor was he particularly concerned with the ninja Danzo had brainwashed, he would restore them back to themselves once this mess was cleaned up. Yet, when he saw Minato standing beside Danzo, guilt and pain washed over him like freezing water. The 3rd Hokage turned to face Danzo. "What have you done?"

"Oh, so now you're scared," Danzo laughed. "Always playing the fool Hiruzen. Let's say for a second that you could outmatch Minato in battle and that is a big could. We both know you would never willingly harm one of your children. Your biggest mistake in this whole thing is treating the villagers like your family. If you view them as family then you will always be blinded by your love for them, that leads to questionable decisions and questionable decisions will lead to weakness. I instil that wisdom to members of my Foundation."

Hiruzen scoffed, "You call that wisdom, I call that cowardice and emptiness. A void that is self-created in the heart. A sad way to live. Shinobi fight because there is something they wish to protect, not because they enjoy it. Ninja who fight for the pleasure or the honour are nothing more than savages. You never understood."

"No, I didn't, nor do I want to understand. Hiruzen, as of today, I am the 4th Hokage." Danzo stepped forwards. Minato to his left, Kakashi to his right. The Foundation member with the half blue mask just behind them. Tazusa, Inoshin and the Sand ninja Rogaki at the back.  
"Time for you to die. Minato Kill him!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Minato stepped forwards, ready to complete his given order.

"Minato, I'm sorry this happened to you. Forgive me," The 3rd Hokage said.

Minato said nothing and continued.

The window behind Hiruzen showed chaos and destruction. Then something else filled the windows view.  
Mantis was dropping down, becoming the focus of the outside world. He was falling like it was in slow motion. Mantis flung one of his arms across his body. He had thrown something that glinted through the moonlight night. A tri-point kunai smashed through the glass and landed with a heavy thud just before Rogaki and Inoshin. Shattered glass littered the floor.

Before anyone could grasp the situation. Minato had vanished. He reappeared a second later in front of Rogaki and Inoshin, with a Rasengan in both hands. He gave more power and rotation to the Rasengan in his left and slammed it into Rogaki' stomach. Every muscle twisted in on itself. Skin and flesh were torn off the stomach of the Sand ninja. Rogaki screamed in pure agony. Then he was sent flying into the back wall. He smashed his head against the wall and fell to the ground with blood spilling from his abdomen.  
The same happened to Inoshin Yamanaka, however on a much less fatal scale. The Rasengan that hit Inoshin propelled him backwards and smashed him against the wall as well. He fell down, not dead but injured.

Outside, Mantis threw a kunai attached with wire to the roof of the Hokage's office and swung inside landing next to the Hokage.  
The Foundation member with the blue mask ripped the mask from his face and threw to the floor. For a second it was Enshi Uchiha, then his body was covered with a burst of white smoke, then Enshi became Obito Uchiha. Kakashi turned around before he could do anything, Obito used his Sharingan to subdue his friend. Kakashi crumpled to his knees.

"What is happening!?" Danzo yelled. Tazusa made her way to Danzo's side.

Mantis took off his mask where it was revealed to be Rin in the black cloak.

"This is what you would call getting stabbed in the back," Obito teased. "I already took care of Enshi and Hoza. I impersonated Enshi to get close to you. When you let me place Minato sensei in a Genjutsu, I was able to gain control of him. I got inside his head and was able to loosen the hold you had Inoshin place on him. His memories haven't returned to him, but sensei is definitely not under your control anymore." Obito explained.

"You couldn't have impersonated Enshi perfectly. There were several others in that room, Enshi has certain behaviours, and habits, ones that we should have detected."

"For someone who is obsessed with the Sharingan, you underestimate its abilities. I copied all his habits and behaviours. Besides I've known Enshi a lot longer then you have, I've even trained with him. I know him better then you do. You have been outplayed." Obito grimaced childishly but proudly

The door burst open suddenly, Ariko and Kaitsuchi came into the room. They both saw the damaged that had been done.

"Kill Minato!" Danzo ordered.

Minato pulled a kunai from his pouch then flung it between the two foreign ninja. Minato warped to the knife, caught it in mid-flight and performed a quick spin while slashing the throats of the two ninja. They both dropped dead.

Danzo's face scrunched up in anger. His hands gripped his walking frame, turning his knuckles white.

"This isn't over!" Danzo yelled. A smoke bomb fell from Tazusa's sleeve and landed in her hand. She threw it down and she and Danzo were surrounded by smoke. When the smoke cleared both had disappeared.

Obito knelt by Kakashi's side, followed by Rin a few seconds later. Kakashi was still feeling the effects of the Genjutsu. He was kneeling, and his body was shaking slightly.

"Kakashi, are you alright," Obito asked.

Kakashi moaned, then rubbed his eyes.

"Urgh, what happened? Where am I?"

"It's a long story buddy. Just know that I'm going to get you back to normal." Rin looked up at Obito.

"How did you find Minato sensei and Kakashi?" Rin asked.

"When I got to the Root hideout Danzo had sensei strapped to a chair with all kind of sealing Jutsu surrounding him. You see that Root guy on the ground over there?" Obito directed to Inoshin with his head. Rin looked over. "He's from the Yamanaka clan, He's got some Jutsu that lets him get into people's memories and mess with their minds, that's how he's controlling and brainwashing all the others, including Kakashi."

"So then how did you free them?"

"I didn't, they're technically still under control." Rin flinched away from Kakashi. "Although, in sensei's case, I was able to put him in a Genjutsu where I continuously showed him memories of mine involving the four of us as Team Minato. I think somehow Minato sensei was able to grab hold of the memories I showed him and gain some kind of subconscious control, which he's passed on to me through my Genjutsu."

"So, right now you're controlling sensei?"

"Basically."

"What about Kakashi?"

"I wasn't able to plan a more elaborate Genjutsu in time for Kakashi, but he shouldn't be able to move for a while unless he breaks the Genjutsu himself. Which is why we gotta work fast."

Inoshin seemed to recover after the hit he took. The Rasengan that hit him was only supposed to subdue, unlike Rogaki, the sand ninja, who died almost immediately after the Rasengan struck him. Inoshin got up quickly and tried to run out of the office. Obito noticed. Minato moved into action straight away, grabbing Inoshin in a headlock.  
Obito moved into Inoshin's view and used his Sharingan to put Inoshin under his control. Inoshin tensed his body.

"I want you to fix whatever you did to Minato sensei now." When Obito was sure that Inoshin was completely under his mercy, he got Minato to take a seat. Inoshin stood across from him then formed a hand sign.

" **Ninja Art: Memory Construction Jutsu!** "

Minato's eyes widened. In his mind, the Yellow Flash was swimming through a void of blackness, every few seconds he would gain glimpses of his memories. He saw a light in the void. He was travelling towards it, when he finally reached it he had all his old memories back. The memories of Danzo had all disappeared and Minato had control of himself once again. Minato's eyes relaxed.

"Welcome back sensei," Obito said.

"Obito! Rin! Thank you both," Minato said gratuitously. "Ok, now help Kakashi so you can all help me."

"Wait, sensei, don't you want to know what happened?" Obito asked.

"I already do. Inoshin's Jutsu doesn't get rid of your memories completely. It essentially compartmentalises and boxes your normal memories with your conscious mind and buries them deep into your subconscious mind. You are aware of your surroundings and all your actions the whole time, you just can't do anything about it. You become a spectator to your own body, just filled with false memories. Kakashi should be the same as well. That's why you must get him back to normal, now," Minato replied.

"Yeah, fine, I only had a really cool story to tell you, but I guess that can wait." Obito and Rin helped prop Kakashi onto the chair. "Now you can fix Kakashi," Inoshin repeated the Jutsu on Kakashi and got him back to normal.

"Thanks for not screwing it up, Obito," Kakashi said.

Obito folded his arms. "Yeah, nice to have you back," Obito said sarcastically.

"Kakashi, I'm so sorry for getting you into this mess," Rin apologised.

"It's not your fault Rin, this was all Danzo's doing."

"Alright, listen up Team Minato." Minato began. "I'm going after Danzo." The three young ninja looked ready to follow. "Alone!" Now the young ninja looked deflated. "Danzo is too much for the three of you to handle. This time he can't hide behind a human shield to protect him. I'll stop him this time. Kakashi, Obito, Rin, your mission will be to stop any Root ninja you come across. Unless your 100% certain that the Root member works for Danzo and isn't being controlled, don't kill. Incapacitate them, then bring them here to Inoshin. You'll return them back to normal. Also, I'm leaving you here to protect Lord Hokage. Lastly, remember to work together, teamwork is your most powerful weapon, understood." Minato gave his orders.

"Understood!" Kakashi, Obito, and Rin said in unison.

"I'll be going now."

"Be careful, Minato," The 3rd Hokage said.

"I will. First things first though. I'll use Danzo's own plan against him."

Minato jumped out of the window, then vanished from sight.

"There are three Root members downstairs," Kakashi stated.

"One of them is Zata Uchiha, he's wearing a mask with red markings under the eye holes. He's a good friend, so don't hurt him too much," Obito added.

"Ready." The three-ninja looked at each other and shook their heads in agreement. "Lord Hokage, we will be right back," Kakashi said. They left the Hokage's office.

* * *

( _Outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village_ )

Ametsuchi had taken out most of the scouts around the village with Monkey's help.

"Now that we've gotten rid of the small fry, do I get to take on some real enemies?" Ametsuchi asked.

"Your next mission is to destroy these key landmarks around the village." Monkey handed the Stone ninja a scroll with a map of the Leaf village on it.

"Yay, more scrolls," Ametsuchi said sarcastically.

"Some of the landmarks are clan headquarters belonging to the Uchiha and Hyuga to name a couple. Complete your mission and be rewarded handsomely." Monkey explained.

Ametsuchi was already leaving the tower. He jumped off the edge, falling quickly to the ground spread eagle. He hadn't felt this free in a long time. Back in his own village he was cooped up in his own cage, called only when necessary, used then locked back up. All because of his Kekkai Genkai. Ametsuchi formed hand signs the held his palm out in front of him.

" **Summoning Jutsu!** " A burst of white smoke filled the air. Then a giant brown eagle soared out of the smoke and soared through the night sky. Ametsuchi used his chakra to stick to the eagle's back while he flew. He locked his hands together, gathered chakra, then unlocked his hands. A large glowing orb appeared in between his hands.  
" **Explosion Style: Dandelion Dynamite!** " Ametsuchi launched the orb into the air. The one large orb split itself into multiple smaller orbs then all explosives started to plummet to the ground.  
The village was littered with multiple explosions everywhere.  
Ametsuchi laughed hysterically.

* * *

( _Outskirts of the Leaf Village_ )

Monkey had left the sentry tower, with two Leaf ninja corpses on the ground. He had his own mission to complete.

The sentry tower was empty of all living persons, so he watched from the window of the tower. He saw Ametsuchi flying and swerving through the air. He saw the destruction that had been caused.  
Now it was time he planned his own mission.  
Hamatsuchi had made his own way to the Leaf Village.  
Hamatsuchi would join the battle.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Kakashi, Obito and Rin made their way down to the entrance of the Hokage's building, making their way quickly down the steps.

"I know this goes without saying but we need to be careful. Whoever the other ninja are that Danzo brainwashed, he chose them for a reason. They're all going to be skilled. We work together and make it out alive," Kakashi said.

"Right!" Obito replied.

"Right!" Rin replied.

The three young ninja ran into an empty entrance. Before they could properly survey the room, they all found themselves paralysed, like thousands of hands had gripped every part of their body and bound them in place.

"Did I forget to mention that one of them was from the Nara clan?" Obito whispered, enough for his friends to hear.

"This is why we make plans," Kakashi said.

"You three are dead," Snake called out. Snake was kneeling on the wall above the entrance to the staircase, waiting for the enemy to show up.  
" **Shadow Strangle Jutsu!** "

A second Kakashi leapt out from the staircase and threw several shuriken at Snake. He detached his Jutsu and jumped off the wall. Zata dropped down from the ceiling weaving signs. Obito turned while activating his Sharingan. Immediately he began analysing the hand signs, seeing the patterns and predicting the Jutsu. Obito's hands began waving the same hand sign's almost subconsciously.

" **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!** " The two Uchiha shot out large fireballs at each other. The fireballs collided and exploded against one another.  
Zata was already moving onto the next Jutsu.  
Obito was already analysing that Jutsu.

"Water style Jutsu coming up," Obito warned his teammates.

" **Water Style: Water Shockwave!** " A tornado of water summoned itself around Zata spinning with rapid speed, until the tornado seemingly exploded outwards, sending giant crashing waves to flood the area.  
Kakashi made the snake hand sign then slammed his hands on the ground.

" **Earth Style: Mud Wall!** " A pyramid of cement formed around the three ninja. Water could be heard smashing off and roiling around the mud wall. Not a single droplet penetrated through. Kakashi brought down the mud wall when he thought it was safe enough. Rin immediately pulled an explosive kunai from her pouch and launched it at Zata's feet, remembering Obito's and Minato's plea not to kill.  
The kunai blew up, pushing Zata backwards, yet he remained on his feet.  
A second later a bunch of shuriken circled around team Minato. The shuriken had wires attached to them, tying the three ninja up together. Spider appeared from the side.  
The wire had pinned Rin's hand to her chest. She straightened her hand as much as she could, gathered her chakra and sliced the wire with a **Chakra Scalpel.  
** Kakashi made his move as soon as he was free, charging at Snake. Being from the Nara clan, Snake was the most problematic in terms of capturing. Kakashi knew that to make the fight easier for his team he would have to take down Snake first.  
Kakashi drew his white light sabre and threw it at his opponent. Snake moved his head at the last second and dodged it. Another clone of Kakashi hidden underground emerged, grabbing the sabre mid-flight and bringing it down upon Snake's head. The Root member spun around, dodged the blade and kicked the clone in the stomach making it disappear while the sabre dropped to the floor.  
The real Kakashi with blitz speed slammed his hand on Snake's back.

"If you're wondering where that came from, I did it inside the mud wall," Kakashi explained. " **Lightning Blade!** " a burst of electricity pulsed out of Kakashi's hand. Tendrils of lightning covered Snake from head to toe. Kakashi used the lightning blade to taser Snake. Not killing him but rendering him unconscious as he dropped to the floor, steam rising from his body.  
Kakashi picked up and sheathed his sabre then turned back to his team.

"I'm taking Zata," Obito called out.

"Be careful," Kakashi said. He and Rin joined each other.

"Kakashi, with your help this village could have been so much more. The power the Leaf would have possessed," Spider said.

"A Leaf village with very few Leaf ninja. Danzo wants to sell this village. It would have become a mercenary camp," Kakashi replied. They both ran at Spider.

Obito and Zata were locked in a fierce Taijutsu battle. The two Uchiha dishing out flurries of fists and feet at each other. Their Sharingan, both at the same level, reading each other's movements and detecting their attacks.  
Their fight was only drawing to a stalemate.  
After a few more attacks they locked hands, pushed against one another. Straining from the pressure. Zata kicked straight up hoping to catch Obito in the chin. He pulled his head back, let go of Zata and backflipped away.

" **Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!** " Obito shot out multiple fireballs.

" **Water Wall!** " An eruption of water rose from the ground and countered the fireballs as they sizzled harmlessly into smoke. " **Water Bullet!** " Zata waited for the water wall to drop then blasted a large orb of water at Obito. If it wasn't for the Sharingan Obito probably wouldn't have reacted in time.  
He weaved some hand signs quickly.

" **Fireball Jutsu!** " The fireball and water ball both smashed into each other, creating a large explosion of steam. The two Jutsu simultaneously countering each other. The fireball evaporating the water and the water putting out the fireball. Steam erupted outwards in all directions.  
Water rained down, showering Obito and soaking him wet. The steam eventually cleared. Zata remained visible for a second longer. Rain showered him as well and his body seamlessly blended in with the pouring rain. A black blur consumed by the heavy rain.  
Obito now realised that the rain had lasted for too long and concentrating his Sharingan further he noticed that each individual raindrop was infused with chakra.  
Pain flared on Obito's right cheek. He put his hand to his face only for his stomach to burst with pain. Obito grabbed his stomach and fell to his knees. Something hard smashed against his face and he collided with the ground. He could taste blood. Invisible attacks striking him down one after the other. Rain still falling on his face. Aside from the pain, his body shuttered from the stinging chill of the rain.

"The **Hiding in Rain Jutsu,** " Obito whispered to himself. Now that he figured that part out, the next move was to stop it. Another forceful blow to the stomach sent Obito rolling across the floor. He got up to one knee only for his leg to be kicked out under him which toppled him back to the ground. Obito's breath was heavy. Fog clouds puffing out each time he exhaled.  
Obito couldn't afford to lose here.  
He refused to lose.  
He promised Kakashi and Minato sensei he would win.  
He wouldn't let Rin get hurt.  
He would defend his village.  
He wouldn't allow Zata, a member of his clan to continue being brainwashed.  
Obito would win.  
Obito flipped himself back onto his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. Someway, in one form or another, Obito couldn't explain it but the world looked clearer. He felt as if the rain was moving slower. That's when he began to see. Splashes, here and there. Raindrops not falling but being pushed away from the ground.  
Footsteps.  
Another force struck Obito in the chest pushing him back a step. There was motion in front of Obito. The rain blurred around him. Obito moved his head back. There was a _whoosh_ sound that passed his face, but nothing made a solid connection. He saw more movements inside the rain, water along the ground that moved.  
Something hard hit the back of Obito's head. He fell to his knees. Like a sixth sense, something told Obito to move. He dodged rolled to his right. A blur moved swiftly to his left. A puddle of water next to him burst open. Obito still crouched, launched a kick in the air. His foot connected with something solid. Obito surprised himself.

"I'm starting to see his movements, but why now?" Obito questioned to himself. He got back to his feet. The blur vanished then appeared a second later. This time Obito was ready, he moved away from the blur and didn't get hit. Another burst of motion, Obito moved his hand and blocked the attack.  
 _Concentrate!_ Obito told himself. Willing himself to do so. He detected a few steps coming his way.  
Now was the time.  
Obito raised his hands and caught his attacker. The rain lessened immediately and Zata's black cloak became visible.

"Found you!" Obito brought his free hand back and punched Zata straight in the gut with all he had. Zata belched, then grabbed his stomach with his free hand. Obito yanked Zata up and delivered multiple rapid punches to his stomach and chest. Zata was taking steps backwards clutching his torso in pain, while the rain had come to a slow drizzle. Obito raided himself and punched Zata's face, smashing the Root mask into pieces as Zata toppled away.  
With Zata's face exposed Obito used his Sharingan to place Zata in a Genjutsu.  
Zata's face blanked for a couple of seconds.  
Then he scrunched his face up in anger.

"Genjutsu doesn't work on the Uchiha, you should know that!"

"No, but it still works as a distraction! Sorry about this buddy," Obito delivered one final strike on Zata, smashing his fist into the side of his head. Zata stumbled back a bit then fell flat on the ground.

Obito fell to one knee grabbing his stomach which flared with pain. His head was pounding like a drum too, the taste of blood still lingered in his mouth.  
Rin ran to Obito side.

"Obito are you alright?"

"Just about."

"When the rain came down I couldn't see you, I was worried. Now tell me, where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere."

"Just relax, Kakashi's dealing with the last enemy." She started pouring her healing chakra into Obito's body. A warm, calming feeling spread across the young Uchiha. The pain was receding from his stomach and head.  
Then he noticed Rin flinch, her hands slightly pulling back for a split second then returning to their normal position.

"What's wrong?"

"Obito, your eyes, your Sharingan has three Tomoe.

"What! Really? That would explain so much. I felt like the world had become clearer, I could see more. That must have been my Sharingan evolving. I'm going to be so awesome from now on."

"You're awesome with or without the Sharingan," Rin giggled.

"Why are you laughing?" Spider was standing right in front of them, kunai rushing forwards. Obito's arm extended lightning quick and gripped Spider's wrist. A second later Kakashi spear tackled Spider around the waist and then toppled away.

"Thanks, Obito," Rin said.

"We need to get back to Kakashi."

"Take this first, it'll give you your strength back." Rin handed Obito a food pill. He swallowed it immediately and stood up with Rin beside him.  
Kakashi was blocking a flurry of punches from Spider. Obito rushed to Spider's back and performed a spin kick. Spider spun around and grabbed Obito's foot and pushed him backwards. Rin attacked head-on with a **Chakra Scalpel** ready. Spider clapped his hands together.

" **Wind Style: Wind Wall!** " A sudden burst of blasting wind surrounded Spider and pushed everyone around away from him.  
Kakashi and Obito made their way back to Spider's sides delivering quick punches and kicks. Spider was slapping both of their hands away. Rin joined the fight again, aiming her strikes precisely. Spider backed away knowing full well the chakra scalpel would be devastating if it landed.

" **Earth Style: Earth Wall!** " An earth wall appeared behind Spider which he slammed into. Spider was disoriented for a few seconds then regained his composure.  
Obito came at Spider from the front and tried to punch him. Spider caught his wrist before the punch could land.  
A puff of smoke covered Obito, when it cleared, Rin had replaced her teammate.

"Transformation Jutsu!" Spider roared. Rin wrapped her hand around Spider's wrist, injecting her chakra into his tendons. Spider screamed in pain. Rin twisted her enemies' arm to turn him around, then struck the back of Spider's knee. He screamed again while his struck leg gave out and he fell to his other knee. Obito jumped onto Spider, one foot on his chest the other on his face, the mask cracked, and Spider was pushed flat on the ground as Obito kicked off. Lastly, Kakashi thumped his hand on the Root member and activated his **Lightning Blade** electrocuting Spider enough to render him unconscious.

Kakashi, Obito and Rin came together, panting, sweat beading down their foreheads. Obito was still drenched with water from the rain.

"We need to get them back to Inoshin," Kakashi replied.

"I've got Zata," Obito said. Kakashi picked up Spider.

"Rin, you get the last guy," Kakashi said.

"Got it," Rin replied.

As soon as Rin moved the entire room darkened. Shadows appeared and clung to the wall like wet paint. A sense of dread washed over the young ninja. They could all sense another presence.

"Why can't we catch a break?" Obito said.

"What's wrong? I thought you would be itching to give your new Sharingan a workout," Kakashi replied, smiling behind his mask.

"Oh, you know it," Obito said cockily.


End file.
